Under the Cover of Darkness
by Kuroneko19
Summary: Halloween Special 2011. A violent storm forces Ouran students to spend the night at the Academy. But when Rin and the twins find themselves lost in the dark, will they be able to handle what lurks the halls? Hikaru/OC/Kaoru. True Confessions timeline.
1. Pt 1: Stuck for the Night

_**Author's Note:**__ Greetings, darling readers! K-chan here, with a cute little short story involving everyone's favorite twin mischief-makers and their __**True Confessions**__ love interest, Rin Tamashīzaki! I began this story over six months ago when a massive storm blew through. It inspired me to write what would happen if the weather became so bad that the Hosts would be stuck spending the night at Ouran Academy – hence the result! XD_

_This is more of a stand-alone story, though it takes place during the __**True Confessions**__ storyline; however, it has no impact on that story whatsoever. For those of you who haven't read __**True Confessions**__, Rin is a newcomer to Ouran by way of a scholarship, and is hiding her gender for personal reasons. During her stay, she's forced to join the Host Club (by means of careful persuasion *coughblackmailcough*) and inadvertently gains attentions from the Hitachiin twins._

_Let me know what you all think! Remember: All questions, comments, constructive criticism, and/or suggestions are welcome!_

_**Disclaimer:**__ I do not own anything from __**Ouran HSHC**__. I just like to write. ^_^_

_Enjoy!_

* * *

><p><strong>Under the Cover of Darkness<br>**By Kuroneko

**Part 1: Stuck for the Night**

The loud bang of thunder interrupted the announcement, causing the intercom to crackle. Rin Tamashīzaki gave her friend an affectionate squeeze around the shoulders to prevent the cross-dressed student from freaking out entirely. She glanced over and found Haruhi Fujioka giving her a weak smile in return, her hands pressing Hikaru's headphones firmly over her ears to drown out the noise.

'_Just like poor little Mi-chan,'_ Rin thought with a sigh. She could only wonder how that little sister of hers was currently faring. Like as not, Aunt Tomoe and Uncle Kenichi had checked the bouncy raven-haired girl out early before the typhoon cut loose.

'_That's what happens when you're the favorite…'_

"And because the weather's going to be like this for the next twenty-four hours, it's been decided that no student will be going home this evening. Instead, you'll all be spending the night at the academy," Yuzuru Suoh's voice said pleasantly. "Sorry guys. Have fun, though!"

Rin let out a groan as several others in Class 2-A cheered. Spending the night at Ouran Academy was the _last_ thing she needed right now. She had two cats to worry about and a friend out on the streets.

'_I sure hope Yamanouchi has a place to stay tonight,'_ she thought worriedly, looking out past the rivulets of water streaking down the window. _'He's tough, but I don't want him out in this weather. Maybe if I leave a message with Masaaki, he'll let him know I'm okay. He's got a house key, after all. And I don't want Patches and Perry to be alone…'_

The thought of her precious kitties alone in her rickety old house without their "Mommy" sent a jolt up her spine. She couldn't leave them all alone! Even if they'd known Yama-kun for most of their lives, they wouldn't stay calm until Rin was home!

"Hey, Rin?" she looked down and found Haruhi frowning. "Are you okay?"

"It's my cats," she admitted quietly, sitting back down in the seat in front of her fellow cross-dresser. "Patches and Perry are scared of thunder and lightning, and there isn't anyone to take care of them. I think I should go home."

"_Go home?_" two voices exclaimed in horror. Rin cringed. Who else but Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin would try to invade her privacy?

"I can't leave my kitties home alone!" she insisted, folding her arms. "It's about as bad as child abandonment!"

"Uh-huh. And that justifies likely getting yourself impaled by a flying tree branch?" Hikaru said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Lightning cracked again, illuminating his handsome features briefly before the room returned to its dimness.

Rin scowled. She knew he was right – it was suicide to walk home in weather like this! But, _still_…

"Alright, everyone! Could I have your attention up here for just a sec?" The classroom fell silent as Imori-sensei, their Algebra instructor, waved at them after getting off his cell phone. Once he saw the many sets of eyes on him, he continued.

"I just got speaking with the Headmaster and the administration," he explained. "They've gone over the impromptu sleeping arrangements, and just told us how we'll be doing things."

"I sure hope they don't expect us to sleep in the classroom," Kaoru said with a frown. The other three nodded in agreement, Rin fervently. Ever since joining the Host Club, she'd discovered on multiple occasions how obsessed the female teen could get when it came to being led by hormones alone.

And there was one girl in particular – Chisa Katagiri – who'd been asking for Rin ever more frequently than before. The girl was a relentless irritation, and had been caught trying to follow Rin home once. If it hadn't been for Yamanouchi's intervention, Rin's identity of a legitimate member of the female gender would have been exposed and her cover blown out of the water. Since the incident a week ago, Kyoya had placed surveillance on Chisa by means of his family's own police force. So far, Rin was safe going home.

Seeing the girl trying to throw flirtatious glances in her direction now, however, Rin would only speculate if the safety net extended to _within_ the walls of Ouran.

"They've decided to divvy it up according to the clubs you're associated with," Imori-sensei continued. "For example, the book club will be sleeping in Library #4 and the European History Club will be in Tadachi-sensei's classroom. Those of you who are in more than one club, it's advised that you go with the club that has more members of your own gender. The rest of you who aren't in a club will be in your homeroom classroom."

Rin very nearly sighed in relief. From all of the darned girl's spouting and ranting about herself, Rin knew that Chisa was just a Host Club groupie and didn't belong anywhere. Music Room #3 and Chisa's homeroom class were nowhere near each other – in fact they were two floors apart!

But then there was this new problem – _she was going to spend the night in Music Room #3._ In other words, she'd be sharing makeshift sleeping quarters with not only Haruhi but the _boys_.

The very thought made Rin want to reconsider not going out in the typhoon. Mori-sempai and Honey-sempai were scheduled to come by today, which was alright; the two of them were quite nice, and Rin could trust them to keep to themselves. Tamaki Suoh was a bit of an idiot, but at least he'd make sure nothing improper happened. And if he didn't, Kyoya Ōtori _would._

Rin shuddered. Kyoya-sempai had that effect on her. The idea of sleeping in the same vicinity as the Shadow King made her skin crawl.

But there was another problem, one probably a bit more pressing than sleeping across the room from the bespectacled third son of the feared Ōtori clan. The name of the problem? Hitachiin. Specifically, _Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin_. Her touchy, feely, clingy twin classmates; both of whom found great enjoyment in pulling her into some form of physical contact and watching her try to keep up with her façade. It was normally no small feat for Rin to brush aside handsome charmers, but Hikaru and Kaoru had the uncanny ability to toss it all out the window and make the disguised girl flounder to keep her head on straight.

'_And I'm going to be sleeping in the same room as those two…'_ She felt her heart drop into her stomach.

Lightning flashed and thunder cracked, the classroom lighting up vividly before plunging into darkness. Several people screamed, Haruhi and the twins included. Rin couldn't help but let out her own little surprised scream in the darkness as three sets of arms grabbed onto her. She knew the arms around her arm definitely belonged to Haruhi: the two girls had become quite good friends, and Rin knew exactly how the brunette reacted to thunderstorms. But the arms around her waist and the other pair around her neck definitely belonged to Hikaru and Kaoru. Rin knew that curious mixture of wintergreen, cinnamon, and cologne from anywhere, having been exposed to it so often.

Haruhi let out a squeak and instinctively hugged tighter to Rin's arm as another clap of thunder roared, this time shaking the building. Rin thought her arm would fall off.

Just then, the lights flickered back on, revealing that the four youngest Host Club members weren't the only ones to have instinctively latched onto someone else. Even the stalker Chisa had been startled into grabbing the girl in front of her.

Rin cast a glance over to Haruhi, seeing the brunette squeezing her eyes shut. Hikaru's headphones were askew on her head, and the poor girl had tears leaking from her eyes. Rin reached over and gripped her friend's clenched hands tightly. Haruhi only clung tighter.

Sighing inwardly, Rin turned her attention to the twins. This turned out to be rather difficult, as Kaoru was hugging her neck and had his head buried in her lengthening hair; Hikaru was the one hugging her by the waist, and was very nearly in her lap.

Rin cleared her throat loudly, causing the two to jolt. Chuckling nervously, the twins let go. Lightning flashed again, causing everyone around her to scream once more.

It was going to be a _long_ night.


	2. Pt 2: Sleeping Arrangements

**Part 2: Sleeping Arrangements and a Light in the Darkness**

Because of the tumult caused by Chairman Suoh's decision to have the students stay overnight, club activities were canceled in favor of getting everyone organized before the designated dinner time. Rin was personally fine with the decision; at least she wouldn't have to worry about being crushed by customers who would get scared if the lights were to go out again. With the way the weather was acting, it wouldn't have surprised the teen in the least if Ouran Academy found itself plunged into pitch darkness the entire night. It was hard to believe that none of the windows were broken yet with the way the wind was blowing.

Walking along the hallway in the direction of Music Room #3, the four second years remained relatively close together. Haruhi did her best to conceal her fear of the elements outside, but Rin still found herself urging her friend to keep going. Haruhi's fear of thunder and lightning was deeply ingrained and not easily conquered, which gave Rin even more reason to be grateful for the club cancelations. She'd have more time to console the brunette and keep her from having a total breakdown without having to bat off obsessive fan girls.

'_And then there are __**those**__ two…'_ Hikaru and Kaoru were walking right behind the two girls, attempting to look suave in order to hide their apprehension and barely succeeding. They were just as scared by the storm as the rest of the student body, Rin included. Storms in general never bothered her, but this one did.

'_I really need to get a hold of Yamanouchi to make sure he'll be alright.'_

Before long they found the clubroom, Rin opening the door to discover that none of the Host Club's signature rose petals fluttering towards them. She supposed that was a good thing, seeing as they'd have no business this afternoon.

Any happy feelings the raven-haired girl harbored were quickly dashed upon seeing the state of affairs in Music Room #3. Three lights had gone out, casting an eerie shadow in the far left-hand corner opposite of where she and her classmates stood; the room itself was unnervingly silent, save for the violent torrential downpour and the howling of the wind.

"Okay, did the Shinigami pass through here, or did we get the wrong abandoned music room?" she asked sarcastically, yanking Haruhi through the elegant double-doors, the twins still behind them.

Haruhi slid Hikaru's headphones from her ears and frowned. "It's _way_ too quite in here…"

"HARUHI!"

Rin quickly yanked the brunette out of harm's way as Tamaki Suoh catapulted himself towards them, arms widespread and incoming for a hug. The Host King missed his mark entirely and landed in a heap on the floor, much to the twins' hysteria. In the background, Kyoya sighed heavily.

"It wouldn't hurt you to exercise a bit of self-restraint," the Shadow King admonished loftily, not bothering to hide the amused smirk on his face.

The lively blond looked up from the polished marble floor, violet eyes shining with tears. "Rin-chan, how could you do that to your own beloved father?" he sniffed. "Don't you like me at all?"

The raven-haired teen could barely suppress a grin – their so-called Fearless Leader was one of the rare people who could make her want to crack up. It was hard to imagine that she'd hated his guts when they'd first met.

"If I'd let you tackle us, you'd have crushed poor Haruhi."

Tamaki's eyes widened. "Oh, no! Daddy's sorry, Haruhi!"

Haruhi and Rin exchanged glances and laughed as he prostrated himself, groveling at their feet. There was another thing Rin found she liked about the bumbling Host King: he had the ability to put everyone at ease, a talent that extended to Yamanouchi on his bad days and Haruhi in the middle of a thunderstorm. Tamamki was real miracle-worker. He was also one of the extremely few Rin had a certain amount of respect and admiration for.

'_Unlike some people…'_ She looked over in Kyoya's direction and had to suppress a shudder. The only thing she felt for that Ōtori boy was apprehension, dosed with a healthy amount of fear-induced respect. He was always hunting for information regarding a person, and she always made sure that _her_ information danced just out of his ice-cold grasp.

"So, how are we going to do this?" Hikaru at last asked the lingering question. "It's not like this is a camping trip and we had to bring to our sleeping bags."

Kyoya pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I've been listening in on the conversations going on around the academy, and took the initiative of being prepared. As it turns out, Ouran's equipped for such emergencies: each room will be given an assigned number of futons, blankets, and pillows for the evening. I've made arrangements for eight people to be spending the night in the clubroom."

Rin did a quick headcount before grinning evilly. "So I guess that means Renge won't be here with us?" _'SCORE!'_

Kyoya smirked in her direction. "Of course not. After all, the Host Club is comprised of _male_ members. The staff wouldn't be so careless as to permit a lone female student in a room of eight boys for the night even if she _is_ our manager."

Rin wanted to cheer aloud, but settled for a chibi version of herself dancing happily in her mind. Renge Houshakuji was nice enough in her own bizarre way, but she happened to have developed a rather odd kind of crush on Haruhi and Rin soon after her induction to the Host Club. Even though Ouran had a weird way of doing things, Rin was just glad that it had some common sense stashed away in an elegant drawer. It might have just been for the sake of propriety, but at least Renge would be there attempting to flirt with –

'_Hold on a sec!'_

"Uh… what are we doing about me and Haruhi?" she asked carefully, feeling the blood suddenly drain from her face. The reality of the situation was finally beginning to sink in. "I mean… we're not _bunking_ with you guys… right?"

A pair of dark chuckles came from either side of her.

"If that's the case…" Hikaru began.

"… _you're_ bunking with _us_," concluded Kaoru.

"No way," Rin said bluntly, ignoring the warm breaths currently playing on either side of her face.

"There is no way I am going to allow either of my little girls to bunk with you shady twins!" Tamaki proclaimed, grabbing Rin and Haruhi by the shoulders and yanking them back in a gesture of protection. "I propose that, for their safety and in the name of Fatherly Interest –" Rin and Haruhi exchanged exasperated glances "–if they'll bunk with anyone, it'll be _me_!"

The twins snorted. "_'Fatherly Interest'?_"

"So _that's_ the way he likes it," Hikaru said in theatric whisper.

"And with _both_ of them!" Kaoru made an effort to appear scandalized.

Tamaki's face turned bright red and he sputtered. "H-hey! Cut it out, you two!" In his fury, he let the two girls go, sending them stumbling forward.

"And there they go, all the time pretending like we're not even here," Haruhi sighed ruefully. Rin snorted, making a move to grab at whatever impromptu implement of reprimand she could dig out of her bag. Yamanouchi had taken the metal pipe she used to tote around with her, so she was now forced to rely upon school supplies.

Haruhi gave a start upon feeling something collide with her. A set of arms wrapped around her middle. Looking down, she found a familiar cheery face topped with golden blond hair smiling up at her.

"I know what we can do! Haru-chan and Shi-chan*can bunk with Takashi and me!" Honey-sempai exclaimed, flowers magically popping up around him and adding to the happy aura that surrounded him, effectively breaking through the gloom cast by the storm.

"I don't think that would be a good idea, Mitsukuni," Mori-sempai grumbled, averting his gaze from both girls. It was fairly obvious that not even the kendo champ was comfortable with the situation.

"Why don't we just sleep on the other side of the room?" Rin suggested. "Like you guys over in one corner, and we get another all to ourselves. Then, we'll just move the couches in the center as a privacy line."

Hikaru grinned over in the girl's direction. "And what happens if one of us goes sleepwalking and winds up crashing with you two?"

He was met with a _very_ large textbook shoved into his handsome face. Rin was smiling all too sweetly just behind it.

"Simple," she purred, voice mixed with venom and honey; "the first idiot who comes to our side gets to answer to _me_."

That sent a shudder down virtually everyone's back (Kyoya and Mori, however, remained stoic). It was no small secret that Rin could be a bit violent when it came to defending herself; her first encounter with the hosts had given them only a _small_ taste of her temper. When it came to defending her _friends_…

Well, no one was really sure that they wanted to venture down that little avenue.

"We'll be bunking together," Kyoya stated at long last, drawing a great deal of attention to himself. He looked casually to the rest of them. "However, as the student body and most of the faculty are under the impression that the two of you are boys, I'm afraid the 'privacy line' is out of the question."

Rin paled. One glance in Haruhi's direction revealed that the brunette was rather irked by this revelation as well.

"Well, you live with that Saito guy, right?" Kaoru pointed out. "It shouldn't be all that big of a big deal to you, Rin."

Rin snorted. "Just because Yama-kun crashes at my place doesn't mean I'm comfortable spending the night with a whole bunch of guys. And speaking of Yamanouchi, I need to –"

"I spoke with Yamanouchi before you four arrived," Kyoya interrupted. "He asked me to tell you he'd be staying at your house and to tell you not to worry about the cats. He also said that he'd come by to walk you home tomorrow morning around ten o'clock at the latest, being as it'll be a Saturday."

The raven-haired girl sighed loudly in relief. "Thanks. That's one less thing I have to worry about." As long as her long-time best friend and partner-in-crime was safe and with her precious kitties, Rin could breathe easier. Issue #1: Cleared.

Now, as for Issue #2…

"I've already come up with how we'll be handling sleeping arrangements," the Shadow King continued. "We'll be using the Buddy System: you'll be assigned a partner and will be required to remain with them at all times during the night. Being as we're at risk to a power outage and various other issues due to the turbulent weather, it's not a safe idea for anyone to be out wondering around alone."

"That sounds reasonable," Haruhi concurred. The others nodded in agreement.

"The first pairing will be Honey-sempai and Mori-sempai. After them, I have Hikaru and Kaoru."

"Aw… and I wanted to bunk with Rin!" Kaoru lamented. Rin smirked.

"Just don't you two try anything with the rest of us around," she warned, waving a mocking finger.

Winking, Hikaru grabbed his brother around the shoulders. "Don't worry; we'll try not to be too loud."

Haruhi rolled her eyes.

"The next pairs are Haruhi and Rin, and finally Tamaki and myself." Kyoya closed his notebook with a snap. "As for where we'll sleep, I figured it would be safest if we all took places that were away from the windows to start with. Also, for the sake of privacy, we'll be scattered around the room, but not too far away in case anything happens.

"Rin and Haruhi will be sleeping near to where the changing rooms are so they have access to additional privacy if they so choose. Hikaru and Kaoru will be in the corner across from them. On the other side of the room, Honey-sempai and Mori-sempai can take the alcove where the old piano used to be stored. Tamaki and I will take the corner to the right of the entrance. Is that agreeable?"

"Sounds good to me," Rin said, shrugging nonchalantly. At least she wouldn't have to worry about Hikaru and Kaoru attempting to smother her between them in their sleep. The idea was a very, very awkward one.

"I'm cool with it, but what about changing our clothes?" Hikaru asked, pulling at his uniform periwinkle blazer. "We're not really going to sleep in our uniforms, are we?"

"Looks like _he's_ never pulled an all-nighter," Haruhi grumbled. Rin could only roll her eyes in agreement. She couldn't count the number of times she'd slept in her school uniform during her first year of high school. She'd even slept in the Ouran uniform a few times, and had been forced to yank her iron out when she woke up to the fact.

"When the maintenance people bring in ordered sleeping gear, they'll also be bringing in pajamas for each of us. I've already sent them our measurements, so there's no need to worry about sizes."

Rin frowned in the Shadow King's direction. The fact that he knew her measurements was a bit disturbing…

"Well, since Kyoya has everything taken care of, I say we make the best of this night!" Tamaki announced, holding his arms high into the air. It was in that moment that lightning chose to flash in accompaniment with a loud boom of thunder, causing Haruhi to shriek and latch onto Rin's arm again, being as she was the nearest to the panicking brunette. Even Honey-sempai was frightened, and was clinging to his cousin as if Mori was a kind of life preserver.

"'Make the best of things,' he says!" Rin commented sarcastically.

"And just how do you expect us to do that?" demanded the twins, who had grabbed at one another.

Tamaki smiled at them warmly. "Simple: we do things the Host Club way! So what if the weather is stormy and the sky is illuminated by electricity?" Lightning flashed again, this time plunging the room into darkness. And this time, the Hitachiin brothers hadn't clung to each other – they wound up clinging to Rin again.

"C-can't… breathe… Hikaru!" she wheezed as a pair of arms wrapped around her neck.

"Hey… how'd you know I wasn't Kaoru?" a voice asked curiously in her ear.

Rin opened her mouth to answer, but then a beam of light sprung up, illuminating Tamaki's face in the darkness. The twins, Haruhi, Honey-sempai, and even Rin let out frightened yelps.

"Oh, c'mon now! There's nothing to be scared of in the dark so long as we're together!" the Host King assured them with a warm smile. It quite nearly lost its intended effect, being as it was warped and twisted by shadows in the beam of the flashlight.

He reached over and patted Haruhi gently on the head. The brunette looked up to find a pair of friendly violet eyes looking at her gently. Thunder boomed once more, making her cringe.

Tamaki's eyes flashed in concern momentarily before returning to their cheery state. "Even if it's dark right now, we'll all still be here when the lights come on."

And, almost as if by magic, the clubroom lit up again as Ouran Academy's power came back. Blinking back the dots that danced across her vision, Rin couldn't help but take in the people around her.

Tamaki's words had had a soothing effect. Haruhi seemed to be a bit more at ease, and had let go of her Rin's arm. Hikaru and Kaoru were still latched onto the feisty teen, but it was more in their usual, good-natured way than the fierce clinging she'd been experiencing. Even Kyoya looked to have been moved; he seemed to be hiding a grin.

It was a nice idea, Rin had to admit. Even if it _was_ going to be a long night, at least she'd be with her friends.

"Hey, Rin?"

"Hm?" she looked over to Kaoru inquiringly. This was an action she soon found herself regretting, as she came in close contact with a pair of golden catlike eyes that were mere centimeters from her face. His auburn bangs brushed across her own raven fringe, and he was looking at her intensely. "Whoa! Too close, Kaoru!"

She backed up abruptly, only to collide with another body. She didn't need to turn around to figure out it was Hikaru. The hands grabbing her by the shoulders cemented the theory. The Hitachiin twins were _always_ trapping her!

"Alright, _now_ what do you two want?" she demanded exasperatedly.

"It's dark and scary outside," stated Kaoru.

"And the lights might not come back on the next time," Hikaru continued.

The twins both leaned over at the same time. Rin scowled.

"Yeah? So what? I'm here if Haruhi gets scared again."

They both chuckled.

"And who's going to be there if you suddenly get scared?" Hikaru inquired. Rin looked at him over her shoulder, confused.

"Who says I'm scared?"

"Because it's a typhoon and you're in a big school at night," Kaoru explained, sounding as if the answer was obvious. "Who wouldn't be scared?"

Rin laughed loudly, forcedly in her opinion, and shook her head as the twins exchanged confused glances.

"Oh, c'mon, you two! This is Ouran! What could happen? And besides, it's not like I'm afraid of the dark!"

And she wasn't. So long as she was with people she knew and could trust, Rin Tamashīzaki felt as if she could withstand the inevitable power outage when it came.

Or at least that's what she was telling herself.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Shi-chan (<strong>__**市ちゃん**__**):**__ the nickname Honey-sempai later bestows upon Rin after meeting her in __**True Confessions**__. His rationale for this is that he wanted to give her a cute nickname like he did for the others; but because Rin's birth name was so short, he decided to derive it from her family name, Tamashīzaki. The kanji for "Shi" means "city". He felt it was appropriate as Rin's a city girl – she's never been out in the country._

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:**__ Ironically, it's storming here as well! Tamaki is such a fun character to work with – he's so sweet and loveable, but can be such a dunce at the same time! XD And the twins are fun, too! _

_And the night progresses! What does all this foretell for Rin and the Hitachiin brothers? Ghost stories? Enter Nekozawa! Until the next chapter – ja ne! ^_^_


	3. Pt 3: Ghost Stories

_**Author's Note:**__ Konnichiwa! How is everyone? I'm really glad to see so many people enjoying my Ouran fics so far!_

_In one of the reviews for __**True Confessions**__, it was mentioned that this story is a bit confusing, as Rin appears to be good friends with everyone whereas she isn't in the other tale. For clarification, this story would take place well into the __**True Confessions**__ plotline after Rin's induction into the Host Club and the hosts meeting Yamanouchi Saito. Her connection with the twins, however, hasn't been revealed yet. __**Under the Cover of Darkness**__ is more like a side-story or companion to __**True Confessions**__._

_Additionally, I've taken to using the interrobang symbol (_‽_) as I'm unable to use the exclamation point and question mark together (the formatting when submitting the document for posting seems to have something to with it). So if you see that funny little punctuation mark, don't worry - it's supposed to be there. ^_^_

_So, what does the evening have in store for us? Enter Nekozawa! Enjoy!_

* * *

><p><strong>Part 3: Ghost Stories <strong>

Rin settled in the middle of the vacant loveseat. Dinner had been exceptionally good (and surprisingly normal – apparently even the Ouran chefs had heard of sukiyaki and other "commoner's dishes"; green tea ice cream, too), and the accommodations for the night weren't as bad as she'd imagined. It surprised the teen greatly to find that they'd all been given cotton pajamas – simple button-down tops and matching pants with drawstrings, as opposed to the silken loungewear she'd pictured in her mind's eye.

Now that they were all back in their clubroom, things were steadily becoming less intense. As she fiddled with the string on her dark blue pajama bottoms, Rin couldn't help but let her mind wander to beyond the shaded windows. She honestly hadn't figured the typhoon to get this bad until the weekend had arrived. But weather was tricky like that. Typhoons were never easy to predict.

"I really hate weather like this." Rin looked up to find Honey-sempai sulking in the couch across from where she sat. The deceptively young-looking college student was huddled in one corner, his beloved pink bunny clutched against his chest as if it was a security blanket. "Usa-chan hates it, too."

"My sister, Miwako, used to be terrified of thunderstorms," Rin said wistfully, allowing herself to fall onto her side and landing gently on the seat cushions. "She used hide herself in the hallway closet and crawl under the winter coats so she could keep away from the noise." She laughed softly. "Mom used to lure her out with all sorts of crazy things: ice cream, takayoki… even a plushie toy once."

Honey-sempai looked at her curiously. "You never talk about your mother, Shi-chan. Was she a really good person?"

Rin's eyes softened. "Yeah, she was. Maybe there were some people who thought otherwise, but she really was a wonderful role model; not just as a mother, but as a human being. She never put on airs and she always made it a point to get to know those around her. And if there was ever anything Mi-chan or I didn't understand in school, she'd sit down with us and help us figure out what it was we were doing wrong or might have overlooked." She closed her eyes happily. "And she was really good at cooking, too. No matter how hard I try, I don't think I'll ever be able to top her."

"You must really miss her a lot," Honey-sempai observed. Rin's eyes opened again, this time focused on the material beneath her.

'_You have no idea…'_

"Miss who a lot?" Two familiar voices asked in unison. Twisting herself around, Rin found the twins looking down at her.

"Shi-chan was just telling me about her mother!" Honey-sempai replied.

"Really?" Kaoru's eyes widened. If there was one thing he held an intense curiosity for, it was what little information he could scrape up on Rin and her mother. He held a deeply ingrained suspicion that both he and Hikaru had at one time met the two, but couldn't place a finger on it. The fact that Rin rarely elaborated on her life only made the mystery even more appealing to him.

"Yeah, Mom used to come up with all sorts of crazy things to get Miwako to stop freaking out whenever there was a massive thunderstorm," Rin explained, knowing full well that the twins were again fishing for information. "There was actually this one time that Mi-chan wouldn't come out for four hours straight when a typhoon blew through. Mom decided it would be funny to pull a laser pen out and wave it around for Patches and Perry to go after." She giggled. "It got so loud that Mi-chan wound up coming out just when Mom pointed the light at the closet door. Perry couldn't stop and wound up crashing into her face!"

The four laughed aloud, Rin muffling her own guffaws in the seat cushions. After a moment, she looked up again and smiled. "And then Mom had to go an say that she'd at long last proved that cats do not, in fact, come equipped with brakes!" she laughed again at the memory. It was hard not to crack up when remembering the shock and then suddenly smug look that had overcome Ayame Tamashīzaki's face when her youngest daughter had encountered the long-furred tortoiseshell kitten in such a manner.

"Starting the stories already?" Tamaki pouted from the side, earning four pairs of eyes looking at him in mild surprise. The Host King wagged a finger in mock annoyance. "Now, now, children; it's not fair to start without the rest of the family."

"Oh, let them have some fun, Sempai," Haruhi said, taking a seat next to Rin, to whom she smiled. "I actually want to hear more about your mom. You don't talk about her enough."

"Neither do you," Rin countered wryly, but smirked to let her friend know she was joking. The two girls both idolized their departed mothers and still loved them dearly, but there were still some things that they'd never bring up in front of the rest of the Host Club.

"I want to hear a ghost story that Shi-chan's mother told her!" Honey-sempai cheered as Mori took a seat next to him. Kyoya was the last to arrive.

"Uh… well, Mom never really told any," Rin admitted with a nervous laugh. Honey-sempai pouted.

"What about Haru-chan?"

"Sorry, me neither."

"What? No commoners' horror stories?" Hikaru asked incredulously.

Kaoru shook his head. "I'm disappointed."

Rin sighed. "Too bad Yamanouchi isn't here, because he loves the paranormal. He's practically obsessed with some of that stuff."

There was a poke in-between her shoulder blades. She turned around and scowled at the offending twin.

"Hikaru…" she began warningly.

"We want to hear a commoner's horror story," he said, now poking her forehead. "And don't tell us you don't know any, because you're always hanging around with that Saito guy."

"But I _don't_!" she protested.

"If you want to hear a horror story, _I _can help you there…" a dark and sinister voice offered, followed by a crack of lightning flashing with the boom of thunder. Several of them shrieked. Rin, however, was not so easily frightened this time.

"Umehito!" she snapped, half out of irritation and half out of amusement.

Nekozawa chuckled darkly from his hiding place in the darkened corner of the music room. He stepped forth from the shadows, Belzenef silently cackling and rubbing his hands together devilishly.

"Please forgive me, but I couldn't resist!" he insisted as he made his way to the pajama-clad hosts. "I heard Suoh mention ghost stories, and I just had to join you."

With the ghastly pallor Tamaki's face had gone to at the suggestion it seemed as though there would be no need for a ghost story – Nekozawa's _presence_ was enough for him.

A cell phone rang somewhere. Kyoya looked a bit surprised for once in his life. He promptly whipped out the offending communication device before answering with a crisp, "Hello?" He nodded and then said, "Hang on," before pressing a button and setting the communication device on the table. The Hosts and Nekozawa gave him a questioning look.

"_Hey, everyone! How's the lightning from your end?"_ a voice greeted from the other end.

"Yamanouchi!" Rin exclaimed, followed by several enthusiastic greetings.

"Heya, Cyclops!*" the twins greeted.

Rin smacked them aside. "Where are you calling from?"

"_Your boss, Masaaki, lent me his cell phone for the night just in case I needed to get in contact with you,"_ the nineteen-year-old explained. _"I just wanted to see if I could get a hold of you before things got really nasty outside. Your roof's leaking again, by the way."_

Rin's face fell. "Crap."

"That sucks," Kaoru said with a frown.

"A leaking roof?" Tamaki was mortified. "My little girl is living in _squalor_‽"

_***~The Theatre of Tamaki's Mind~***_

_A ramshackle cabin in the middle of the unforgiving city… no heat… no air conditioning… barely any food… Rin in rags and barely scraping by to feed herself and her two cats…_

THWACK!

"Knock it off, Sempai."

_***~And now we return to Reality-Land~***_

Rin returned the borrowed candlestick to Nekozawa, who promptly stuffed it back in the folds of his cloak while cackling with laughter. Tamaki was left to nurse a rather large bump on the head. "A leaking roof is just in the pain to patch up. It's nothing major if you fix right away."

"_Yeah, but even then you got to watch it,"_ Yamanouchi commented dryly. _"I'll take care of it when the storm lets up. It's just irritating to listen to. But that Patches of yours seems to think that water plinking in a metal bucket is the best thing since the laser light – she won't stop batting at the water droplets!"_

"Patches likes water," she said over the snickering from several of the others. "Just make sure she doesn't tip the bucket over."

"_Roger that. So what're you people up to? Lazing about in designer robes by the fire, a raven perched to the side whilst Tamaki mourns for a lady named Lenore?"_

"I don't know anyone named Lenore…" Tamaki, having come out of his stupor, said with a frown. "Do I?"

Kyoya rolled his eyes. "He's referring to Edgar Allan Poe's _The Raven_. Don't you remember the Western Literature class?"

"'_Quoth the Raven: Nevermore!'_" Kaoru hinted.

Tamaki scratched his head in utter confusion.

"Neko-chan offered to tell us horror stories to pass the time!" Honey-sempai piped up, leaning forward to speak into the phone.

"_What? Aw, no fair! Hey, can I listen in?"_

"Aren't you going to run down the minutes?" Haruhi inquired.

"_Masaaki already said it would be okay. He doesn't talk much on the phone anyway unless he's using the phone at work. This is probably the first time his cell phone's been used in a while. Besides, it's kinda lonely over here with just the cats."_

There was loud and protesting set of mewls in the background.

"Oh, great, you hurt their feelings." Rin folded her arms and scowled at Kyoya's cell. "Apologize at once."

"_Sorry, kitties,"_ the older teen's voice said. The twins snickered evilly._ "Okay, __**now**__ can I listen in?"_

"I haven't any problems with that," said Nekozawa, grinning evilly. He smirked in the Host King's direction. "Well, Suoh? Shall we, then?"

"Y-y-yeah… sure!" Tamaki stammered, sinking back into his seat, dazed.

"All right…" Nekozawa swept to the center of the room, the chairs and sofas abandoned as the Hosts crowded together on the largest sofa. He turned his back on his newfound audience.

"This should be interesting," said Hikaru, settling himself in-between Rin and Haruhi.

"I wonder what he's got up his sleeve," Kaoru mused, sitting to Rin's left.

Rin felt like she was the filling of a sandwich.

"Now, then. Where shall I begin? A haunted house? The spectral passenger cab drivers tend to pick up? Or perhaps the woman in the haunted apartment?" The options seemed limitless. Nekozawa then snapped his fingers. "I know!"

He whirled around, crystal blue eyes glinting in the suddenly dim lighting.

"There are tales surrounding many a high school such as this, and many a college as well. Young lives taken in angst and fear, cut short by their own folly."

The Hosts, sans Mori and Kyoya, shuddered as one. Tamaki gulped.

"It's a sad fact of our society, given the amount emphasis placed on entrance exams alone. Those who can afford to will often send their children to cram schools for such a reason."

"_Juku_ are for educational benefits, not necessarily 'cramming'," Kyoya interrupted. "Many offer additional instruction in the arts, such as piano playing, for personal improvement."

'_If you can afford that kind of luxury,'_ Rin and Haruhi thought sourly, eyeing the Shadow King in silent disapproval.

"True," Nekozawa concurred. "However, such isn't always the case. Many times, parents will save up specifically for the day their child is due to enter a high school or college. As a result, there's a great deal of pressure placed upon the student. That pressure becomes even more present with the advent of the examination itself."

"When Takashi and I took the Ouran University entrance exams, I remember there was this one boy who was really nervous," Honey-sempai reminisced, holding his beloved Usa-chan to him as he thought. "I asked him if he was okay, and he said that even after all his studying, he wasn't sure he'd do well. He went through the whole exam like that!"

"And it's no surprise," said Nekozawa. "For those who already suffer from test anxiety, the added stress of extra schooling takes its toll."

"When Kyoya and I took the entrance exams to the academy, the test had to be halted because one girl hyperventilated…" Tamaki spoke lowly. He chuckled nervously. "I just remembered that."

"Sayuri Uzumaki," said Kyoya, laptop whipped out and at the ready. "She suffered from massive test anxiety and eventually had to complete it in private. She later passed after her second attempt."

"And she was one of the lucky ones." They all looked at the black-clad third-year in stunned silence at his ominous tone. The glint was back in his eyes. "Sometimes a person passes and are met with the relief of having put it all behind them. Others, however, are not quite so fortunate. They fail, and are subjugated to most wretched of embarrassments.

"The sad truth is that sometimes a family might not be so forgiving if their child fails after so much effort was placed in preparing for the examination. This is especially true (so I've heard) for college students. Hyperventilation is the least of a person's worries."

Rin bit back a gasp.

"_You're talking about 'taking the plunge' aren't you,"_ said Yamanouchi, startling a majority of the group. They'd forgotten he was still listening in.

Nekozawa chuckled darkly. The twins froze and unconsciously grabbed for one another, latching onto Rin in the process.

"Yes, indeed I am. As I stated before, it's a sad fact of reality; students who work effortlessly and without reprieve find themselves beaten down by several pages of printed paper. And because there is so much emphasis on those pages, it's no small exaggeration to say that their lives have reached a turning point.

"Now, there are a few of these poor, unfortunate souls who find themselves unable to cope, and consequently take a different route of escape, in a manner of speaking. The methods vary, but the result is the same: _death_."

Several people in the darkened music room gulped as lightning cracked outside.

Nekozawa sat down on the coffee table and leaned forward eagerly. "For a majority of us in the land of the living, that is where the story ends. But beyond our standard comprehension, there is more to the tale.

"What becomes of the tortured spirit who took his or her own mortal life? That is the question that many fear the answer to. As it turns out, the spirit will often linger behind on the mortal plane. _That_ is where my tale begins.

"There is an instance, for example, of the student who leapt from a window after horrifically failing his college entrance exams. According to gossip, the testing room he'd been at the time has since been closed down due to later examinees feeling uncomfortable and sensing as if they were being watched, among other things."

"Y-y-you mean the person who committed suicide…"

"… stayed behind as a ghost?"

The twins' grip on Rin tightened even more. She shot them both dirty looks.

"That is correct." Nekozawa nearly purred his response, clearly enjoying the heightened looks of terror on the Hosts' faces. He chose to ignore Mori and Kyoya, both of whom showed no reaction thus far. "I take it you've heard of the clock tower witch?"

"The _what_?" Rin asked, thoroughly confused.

"There's an old story about a girl who dressed as a witch one year for Halloween," Kaoru explained.

"According to the story, she fell from the clock tower in her costume and died," Hikaru continued.

"And they say that if you see her on Halloween…" Tamaki faltered.

"You're cursed," the twins concluded ominously.

"No, wait… seriously?" Rin looked to Nekozawa for clarification. She wasn't at all pleased by the evil grin playing on his face.

"Yes, that's the tale… or so they say."

"'So they say'?" Haruhi's voice wavered. Honey-sempai suddenly seemed like somebody good to cling to.

"There are many different tales concerning the apparition in the clock tower," the Black Magic Club President explained. "The tale about the girl plunging to her death on Halloween is only one. I've heard another that speculates that she's the ghost of one of the victims in the Bombing of Tokyo during World War II. But there is another one, one that is shadowed only by the Halloween tale many of us are accustomed to hearing.

"Once upon an Ouran entrance examination, there was a young girl who'd hoped to achieve great things in life, and she chose this prestigious academy as her starting point. She was from a rather average family: upper-middle class, good standing in academics and socialization… quite fortunate, if one believed what was on the outside. Naturally, everyone assumed that she would pass. With all of her hard work, studying, and diligence in preparation, how could she not?

"But such was not the case." Lightning flashed, illuminating the room briefly before settling back into dimness. "During the exam, I suppose you could say she had a brief attack of anxiety. She faltered on one part of the test, costing her the supposedly guaranteed entry into Ouran Academy – _and she was only one point away from passing the exam._"

Rin cringed. "I _hate_ it when that happens. I almost had to attend summer classes when I was in middle school because that happened one time. Mom had to put up a fight with the headmaster just let me slide by."

"But that isn't generally how things work with entrance exams into prestigious academies like Ouran," said Kyoya. "Unless you meet the quota, you fail."

'_Heartless,'_ thought Rin.

"And such was the case here," Nekozawa continued, earning his audience's attention once more. "No matter what, there was nothing she could do to alter the outcome of her testing results."

"That poor girl," Honey-sempai whimpered. Mori grunted in agreement.

"According to the rest of the tale, the girl asked the Chairman residing over the academy at the time to allow her just one tour of the school she wouldn't be able to attend. The Chairman agreed, and she walked the halls alone the day before classes started. Eventually, she found herself at the clock tower and took in the view of the city below her. It was then, they say, that the sudden realization of her predicament hit her. Suffering in angst over her failure and the sadness she felt from the disappointment, she leapt from the clock tower and plunged to her death."

The room became deathly silent. The only sound other than the howling wind and torrential wind was their hitched breathing.

"Preposterous," Kyoya finally interjected into the unnerving silence. Nekozawa shot him a withering glare.

"I beg your pardon?"

"No matter how many accounts there are of the apparition in the clock tower, with the exception of one elderly headmaster some years ago, there is absolutely no evidence to substantiate the theory that there was a death in or around the clock tower," stated the Shadow King. "At least not of any of the students."

Yamanouchi snorted into the mouthpiece. _"Geez, you're a total mood-killer, you know that, Ōtori?"_

Nekozawa raised a mocking eyebrow. "And yet you don't deny that there _is_, in fact, an apparition there?"

Kyoya stiffened visibly. "I never said anything of the sort."

"And I take it you have no evidence to support the apparition in the old science labs, either?"

"WHAT‽" Nekozawa smirked at the horrified looks gracing his presence.

"There was another student in the academy said to have taken their life as well. A young man whom, for some reason we have yet to fathom, still lurks the so-called Forgotten Corridor."

"The fourth-floor science hall…" Tamaki gulped. "I've heard stories about that place… like if you go in the second dissection lab, a shadow will follow you – _a shadow that isn't your own_…"

Rin and the twins gulped simultaneously.

"And the voice that calls your name when there's no one there…" Honey-sempai added nervously.

"And the mysteriously locking doors." Everyone, including Nekozawa, looked at Mori in surprise.

"So… Ouran has spooks?" Rin's eyes passed over her companions, the teen not sure what to think. She didn't particularly believe in _ghosts_ on a whole, though she held a firm belief in urban legends. As much as she didn't want to admit it, the corroboration among her friends about Nekozawa's story really unnerved her…

"Every school has its share of scandals and secrets." The older boy's voice nearly made Rin jump. "Not even Ouran is an exception to this. So, should you find yourselves wandering about the halls this evening, take care to watch where you're going."

The President of the Black Magic Club rose and bowed deeply before practically gliding to the set of black double-doors that had mysteriously appeared in one wall.

"You never know _quite_ what you're going to run into." He cackled maniacally and slammed the door shut just as lightning flashed and thunder roared.

The lights flickered ominously.

"_Dude, that's it?" _Yamanouchi's incredulous tone brought the back from their petrified stupor. _"Pretty scary, but I could think of something better."_

"L-like what?" Tamaki stammered.

"_Well, there's this story about a haunted manor up in the Suwa mountains, where – wait, hang on a sec."_ There was a low beep on the other end. _"Aw, frig. The battery's nearly dead already? Crap. And I really wanted to tell the story, too. This sucks. Guess I'll have to tell it to you guys some other time. Maybe next time we get a thunderstorm."_

"Wait, some of us have vacation homes in Suwa!" Tamaki yelped, darting up and practically yelling into Kyoya's cell. "What is it that you were going to say‽ Tell me!"

On the other end, Yamanouchi's deep-throated laughter pierced the walls of Rin's tiny, shanty-style home.

"_Don't worry, Suoh; it isn't anything you have to worry about. As long as you don't hear anyone rasping out the words, 'I don't want to die' and hear about mysterious kidnappings, I think you'll be fine the next time you're in Suwa. Now, I really have to get off and find that stupid charger. You guys take care of yourselves! And, Rin? Don't let Nekozawa's story scare you, got me?"_

"What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded.

"_Oh, nothing~. Night, everyone!"_ and with that, he hung up.

Hikaru and Kaoru eyed the cell phone warily before looking over to Rin.

"That Saito guy is a real weirdo," Hikaru stated.

"How do you out up with him?" asked Kaoru.

"He's my friend – I just overlook the oddities," she said with a shrug, though she continued to eye the cell phone warily. She caught the insinuation. Yamanouchi meant well, but Rin still felt insulted. She wasn't afraid of the dark, and she wasn't going to let Nekozawa's tale of lingering spirits wandering the academy's halls prove otherwise. And with these loons she now considered her friends, what did she have to fear?

"All right, just as an added precaution, no one is to leave the music room without my permission." Tamaki's newest command sent up a slight flare of irritation, effectively yanking the dark-haired girl from her reverie.

"And what if one of us has to go to the bathroom?" Hikaru inquired pointedly.

"Does that mean we have to wake up our 'buddy' and _you_, too?" demanded Kaoru.

Tamaki withered a little under the suddenly scrutinizing gazes.

"Uh… hehehe… I guess I hadn't thought about that…"

'_Go figure.'_ Inwardly, though, Rin was laughing. Yup, there was nothing to be afraid of. Nothing at all.

* * *

><p><em>*Yamanouchi is missing his right eye, and consequently wears a black eye patch to cover it. The story behind this will be explained later on in <em>_**True Confessions**__._

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:**__ Hehe, Nekozawa sure loves his stories! So, what sort of things really go bump in the night at Ouran Academy? The fun is only beginning… Until the next chapter – ja, ne! ^_^_


	4. Pt 4: A Stalker in the Darkness

**Part 4: A Stalker in the Darkness**

Rin later realized the mistake of listening to ghost stories in this kind of atmosphere not long after Kyoya called for lights out. Now about two hours since the hosts had turned in and fell into a deep slumber, the teen found herself unable to sleep and having to visit the bathroom.

As she trudged down the dimly lit hallway, she couldn't help but sigh. She hadn't bothered to awaken Haruhi – the brunette was sleeping peacefully, and Rin really felt the girl needed the sleep. At any rate, the bathroom wasn't all _that_ far away, she rationalized; Tamaki and Kyoya were just being overly cautious.

After finding the bathroom and going about her business, Rin took a moment to regard herself in the mirror as she washed her hands. It was hard to imagine that she was still that same naïve little girl a few years back, before her mother fell ill. Her hair had been restored to its natural color with the help of a bottle of hair coloring, effectively ending her yearlong cycle of experimenting with blondes and brunettes. The ash blonde she'd tried at the beginning of the school year was now all but forgotten, in its place the familiar midnight blue-black hair she'd grown up with. If her blue-green eyes had been a bit bluer, she could have passed for a younger version of her mother with the right hairstyle.

Rin smiled at the thought. Her mother had been her role model; sending her oldest daughter to Ouran Academy had been something Ayame Tamashīzaki's dreamed of for a long time. That was probably the best part of this whole charade; even if her motivation for enrolling had been more out of fear than anything else, at least Rin was able to make her mother's dream come true.

She shook the excess water from her hands and reached out for towel hanging just behind her on a gold-plated rod.

And then the lights flickered and expired.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" she exclaimed in the darkness. The emergency lights promptly came to life, bathing the pristine bathroom in dim light and long, eerie shadows.

Rin scowled at her darkened reflection.

The power just _had_ to cut out on her when she wasn't in the music room, didn't it?

**…**

She wandered down the hallway aimlessly, the emergency lights casting eerie shadows as she walked along in an attempt to appear emotionally detached from her surroundings. Try as she might, however, Rin could hardly suppress a shudder. At one point, she could have attested that the darkness held no fear for her. But an incident that had taken place not too long ago in a dark alley still haunted her even now, and being alone in the shadows sent tendrils of unease coursing through her veins.

"Oh, for pity's sake, Rin! It's not like anyone out there's gonna find you," she scolded herself for the umpteenth time since her arrival at the school. "They're probably too busy trying to see what all they can pull in this weather; I'll be they haven't even spared you a single thought today." Thunder boomed outside, rattling the windows. _'At least I hope they haven't…'_

Looking out the rain-streaked window, she gave a sigh. Here she was, roaming about in the dark on her own in a prestigious school and still worrying about issues outside of Ouran's walls. It wasn't as if anyone was stalking her at the moment.

The shiver that ran up her spine promptly negated the counter. Rin gulped, and then promptly slapped herself mentally. Who the hell would be following her? The only people who had a history of playing her shadows were Hikaru and Kaoru; ever since they'd discovered that the ill-dressed young man Hikaru had accidentally pinned to the floor after slipping on a banana peel on the first day of school was actually a girl, the two constantly pestered her, even finding out the place of her employment and showing up when she least expected it.

They were annoying, but at least they were _friendly_ stalkers.

But this feeling she was experiencing now… it wasn't like it was whenever the twins followed her. It was a cold, sick feeling that settled in the pit of her stomach; the kind of uneasy and nerve-wracking sensation a person only experienced after going home alone from the evening presentation of a psychological horror film. It was irrational, but totally realistic.

'_I'm not afraid of the dark,'_ she mentally chanted, eyes darting about wildly. _'I'm not afraid of the dark. I'm not afraid of the dark.'_

Rin quickened her pace, certain that she couldn't have been very far from the music room.

'_I'm not afraid of the dark. I'm not afraid of the dark. I'm not afraid of the dark!'_

And then she heard it.

Footsteps.

She stumbled and came to a halt. _'I'm hearing things… it's just my imagination!'_

Her heart very nearly stopped when she heard an accompanying footsteps falter.

She was being followed.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:**__ Sorry for the short chapter. Part 5 coming soon! Kudos to __**magictalkingbunny**__ for picking up on the Ghost Hunt reference! Until the next update, everyone! Ja, ne! ^_^_


	5. Pt 5: Unseen Terror

**Part 5: Unseen Terror**

Rin's heart restarted with a violent, rapid pounding. There'd been no mistaking the clicking of heels against the marble flooring – she'd worn the provided matching slippers Ouran's custodial staff had provided for them along with the pajamas. The slippers didn't have heels, and they most certainly _did not click_.

Someone was following her. For how long, Rin didn't have the slightest notion, but it was clear that she wasn't alone in the hallway.

'_Just keep walking down this hallway and get back to the music room,'_ she told herself firmly, willing her legs to move despite the now leaden sensation that had settled into them. _'If anyone tries to follow me, they get to deal with Mori-sempai, Honey-sempai, and a sleep-deprived Kyoya.'_

Swallowing hard, Rin resumed her trek, all too clearly aware of the footfall behind her.

'_Not much further,'_ she kept telling herself. _'Any moment now and I'll be at the music room.'_

But the longer she walked, the more uneasy she became. All the doors looked the same, and not a single one of them heralded a music room of any sort. It wasn't long before the rooms no longer bore signs at all, sending a fresh wave of panic through the teen's system.

Rin hadn't feared the darkness in the longest time. It wasn't until a precious few months ago that her old fear of being alone in the dark resurfaced, instigating a newborn terror that she found herself unable to deal with. And now that same terror was back again, clenching her heart and lungs like a vise.

'_I have to lose them.'_

_Shuffle. Shuffle. Shuffle. _The sound of her slippers scraping against the marble floors echoed in the long and foreboding hallway.

_Click. Click. Click._ The heels were just behind her.

_Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle._ She moved even faster.

_Click, click, click._ Her follower quickened their pace as well.

_Shuffleshuffleshuffleshuffle._

_Clickclickclickclick._

In a sudden surge of blind panic, Rin kicked off her slippers and sprinted down the hallway, urging herself to run as fast as her leaden legs could carry her. Farther and farther she ran, not even looking behind her to see if anyone followed. Her heart pounded loudly in her ears, drowning out whatever footfall progressed from behind, the cold of the floors against her bare feet sending shivers down her spine with each slap against the marble. Shadow after shadow seemed to reach out to grab her; the hallways twisted and turned, sending her deeper into the unfamiliar portions of Ouran Academy as she fled from her suspected stalker.

She had no idea where she was or how long she'd been running when she finally stopped, leaning against a window ledge for support and struggling to regain her breath. She looked up into the window itself, her reflection revealing a dead white skin with patches of red from her panic. Steamers of water cascaded down the glass and thunder rattled the window in its setting, lightning arcing in the stormy atmosphere with brilliant illumination before plunging the sky into a deep pitch black.

Rin's breaths came out in loud, gasping wheezes. She hadn't been this scared since the night she'd been corned in the alleyway and dragged into an abandoned storeroom on the wrong side of town. The terror she felt now was very much akin to what she'd felt then, and the stormy weather outside wasn't making her feel any better.

"I… I must be out of my mind, freaking out like that…" she panted. "What the hell? It… it just could've been the custodian for all I know!"

She slammed her forehead into the windowpane and instantly regretted it upon impact. Rubbing the affected area irritably, she looked out the window once more, and caught sight of a familiar building just as lightning flashed once more.

"The clock tower?"

"_I take it you've heard of the clock tower witch?"_

"_The __**what**__?" Rin asked, thoroughly confused._

"_There's an old story about a girl who dressed as a witch one year for Halloween," Kaoru explained._

"_According to the story, she fell from the clock tower in her costume and died," Hikaru continued._

"_And they say that if you see her on Halloween…" Tamaki faltered._

"_You're cursed," the twins concluded ominously._

Rin shook herself mentally.

"Puh-lease. Clock tower witch?" she shook her head at her own idiocy. Now that she was calming down, she could see the ridiculousness of her actions. "I have just as many chances of having a malicious stalker here at Ouran as I do running into a spook! And it's not even Halloween!"

There was another ominous flash of lightning, accompanied by the crack of thunder.

Rin slammed her fist against the windowpane.

"Okay, that's it!" she hissed through clenched teeth. "This is stupid! All I did was get twisted around a bit in the dark and I panic like a sissy! C'mon, Rin! You're a Host! A Host and a damn good sneak! It's time to get a grip on yourself, _man up_ –" she wanted dearly to laugh at the irony of that statement "– and get back to Music Room #3 before Tamaki wakes up and throws a hissy fit just because you didn't adhere to the Buddy System."

She nodded and straightened out. She looked at her reflection again and smirked.

'_See?'_ the reflection seemed to say. _'What've you got to be afraid of?'_

"_Rin-chan…"_

Rin felt her blood suddenly run cold. Her reflection blanched. All of her previously regained fortitude suddenly went down the proverbial drain and withered somewhere at the bottom of her soul.

"_Rin-chan…"_

Her mouth ran dry.

"_So, should you find yourselves wandering about the halls this evening, take care to watch where you're going. You never know __**quite**__ what you're going to run into."_

For some inexplicable reason, her mind rewound to a time when she and Yamanouchi had logged onto one of the Internet's many visual media and broadcasting websites. She recalled seeing an old American cartoon someone had posted with Japanese subtitles – a 1950s or 60s show starring characters named Super Snooper and Blabber Mouse. That particular episode had featured the two investigating a haunted cruise ship; in one scene Rin had never been able to forget, Blabber Mouse had walked along the deck of the ship while chanting, "There ain't no ghosts! There ain't no ghosts!" – and he was being stalked by a spook the entire time!

That very scene was what was looping through the panic-stricken teen's mind at that very moment. Blabber Mouse's mantra of "There ain't no ghosts!" seemed to reverberate in her mind, echoing continuously.

No, there certainly weren't any ghosts. She didn't care what anyone said; until she had an encounter with the undead, Rin Tamashīzaki simply refused to believe in spectres. The only thing that could follow her in Ouran Academy was a human, and humans could prove to be easily dealt with.

Usually.

"_Rin-chan…"_

She whirled around, muscles tensed up and fists balled, ready to go swinging at any given second. As loathe as she was to the fact, she was for once grateful to have been involved in so many fistfights in the past. Even if it was one of the Yakuza-related students, she at least had a point in her favor.

"All right, who's there?" she demanded, willing her voice to come out as harsh as she dared without making it crack from the strain. "Cut the crap and get over to where I can see you!"

_Click. Click. Click._ The footsteps drew nearer, and each one sent a fresh jolt of adrenaline and panic through Rin's body. It was fight or flight, and her tendency for fighting was struggling not to give in to cowardice. The only thing keeping her rooted to her spot was the intense curiosity as to who it was that followed her.

_Click. Click. Click._

And there, coming out of the darkened recesses of the corridor was her stalker. The dark brown heeled Mary Janes clicked against the marble in a calm and steady tattoo; the yellow dress swished gently against white stocking clad legs.

Rin's eyes widened to the point of nearly popping out as she choked out the familiar girl's name in astonishment.

"_Ch-Chisa-chan‽_"

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:**__ Super Snooper and Blabber Mouse are actual cartoon characters who were featured in the __**Snooper and Blabber**__ sequences of __**The Quick Draw McGraw Show**__ from Hanna-Barbera between 1959 and 1962. I own nothing from there, either, though I loved watching reruns of the show when I was kid. XD_


	6. Pt 6: Rescued?

**Part 6: Rescued?**

Chisa Katagiri blinked several times, almost as if she was confused, before her face lit up.

"Rin-sama! I didn't think I'd run into you here of all people!"

Rin breathed a massive sigh of relief and slouched back against the windowpane. Another part of her wretched in revulsion at the sight of her fangirl stalker, but the amelioration flooding over her made the girl's appearance welcome in comparison to Rin's irrational fears of other, _outside_ stalkers. "It's okay, Chisa-chan. I honestly didn't think I'd be seeing anyone here myself. How'd you get here?"

"I wanted to out of the classroom for a little while, and then I wound up wandering around after the lights went out," the girl admitted, giggling a little. "How about you?"

"I… uh… had to use the bathroom." Rin scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "Then the lights when out and I got lost."

"Oh…" Chisa cocked head to one side. "Then you didn't know that the Host Club room is on the other side of the school?"

Rin's jaw dropped. "Uh… no…" she laughed nervously. To think that she'd gotten so tripped up from all this… "Say, do you think you could show me the way back? I'm still not very familiar with this place's layout."

"Sure thing!" the girl trilled, thoroughly delighted with the proposal. Rin forced herself from her slouched position against the window and followed her now glittery-eyed peer, too relieved at no longer being without guidance to notice the lingering feel of unease in her gut.

**…**

"Hey, I think I found something!" A pale hand extended and gently picked up two dark objects from the floor.

"What is it?" His partner hurried over to him, quickly dropping to his knees next to where his doppelganger kneeled.

A pair of dark blue slippers waved in front of his face.

Golden eyes focused on the identical pair across from him, the unspoken question dancing in the air with the answer just out of reach.

_Where was she?_

**…**

The unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach never left, and now it was gnawing at Rin to the point at which she honestly thought she was going to be sick. Chisa had led her down several corridors and interconnecting and still there was no sign of Music Room #3.

"Chisa-chan, are you _sure_ you know the direction the clubroom is in?" she asked, suspicion weighing down heavily upon her.

The bubbly brunette flashed her a dazzling smile. "Of course I do, Rin-sama! Just leave it to me!"

Rin stuffed her hands in the pockets of her pajama pants and opted to bite back the curse just hovering over her lips. Outside, the weather was still wild; lightning continued to flash and the thunder proceeded to _boom_ with enough intensity to rattle the multiple doors they passed by as Chisa led her further into the school. The only company Rin had aside from her "guide" were long shadows cast by the emergency lights and the intermittent flashes from the storm outside – they were no longer near windows, though the squall coming down was heard loud and clear.

She felt her stomach twist again; something was wrong. As much as Rin wanted to believe otherwise, she beginning to get the impression that perhaps she oughtn't to have asked Chisa to lead her back to the music room. The notion made little sense, seeing as Chisa was a relatively minimal threat despite her past attempts at stalking the enigmatic teen. If necessary, Rin could quite easily knock the girl unconscious and prop her up somewhere without the brunette ever knowing what hit her. Literally.

Still…

"Just up here, Rin-sama!" Chisa's cheerful voice snapped Rin out from her reverie.

The boy-guised teen looked upward in the direction of the voice and immediately narrowed her eyes. Chisa was smiling down at her broadly from the landing overhead.

'_Damn. Looks like my instincts were right again.'_

"Chisa-chan," she began, voice level and low; "why are trying to lead me up a staircase?"

"I'm showing you the way back to your clubroom, silly."

"Bullshit," Rin growled. "I don't remember going down a staircase once. We're still on the third floor. Don't try fooling me. It isn't cute."

The smile Chisa wore quickly faded, and her eyes abruptly lost their sparkle. She lowered her head – in shame, Rin presumed – and allowed her bangs to cast a shadow the top portion of her face.

"You know, Rin-sama…"

Rin felt herself bristle. There was something very, _very_ wrong with the way Chisa's voice just sounded.

Chisa raised her head again. The look in her eyes – glazed, distant, and cold – caused Rin to instinctively tense.

The brunette giggled as she began to descend from the landing.

"Rin-sama, you really shouldn't act so aggressive," she chided, staring at the teen with an oddly crooked grin playing on her lips. "You're a Host; you're supposed to treat a girl like a princess."

"What does that have to do with why you're trying to trick me into going upstairs? What's up there, anyway?"

"You really don't know?" Chisa giggled again, this time one high-pitched and maniacal. "Oh, Rin-sama – you're such a tease!"

Rin stiffened as the girl drew nearer. What the heck was going on here?

"I just wanted to get you alone, Rin-sama." Step-by-step, Chisa came closer, still wearing that crazed and disconcerting grin. "You're always busy with your other customers, so I never get a chance to schedule you for a private session. And even then it's no fun because you're always being snatched up by those Hitachiin twins or studying with Fujioka-kun."

Step-by-step; nearer and nearer. Rin's fists clenched.

"And now I finally get you to myself, Rin-sama."

Chisa stopped just two steps in front of her. She smiled even wider, and leaned forward. A hand gently brushed over Rin's cheek then slowly descended until she found Chisa's fingers tilting her chin upward to meet with the glazed eyes that were all but eating her.

"You're all mine."


	7. Pt 7: Unrequited

**Part 7: Unrequited**

Rin recoiled abruptly and smacked Chisa's hand aside in revulsion.

"Rin-sama…" Chisa pouted and pulled back her hand.

"Quit calling me Rin-_sama_! I'm not some kind of princely character in a shojo manga – I'm just a regular teenager!" _'Regular, huh?'_ a little voice in the back of her mind said sardonically. _'Hardly.'_ "What the hellis the matter with you‽" she snapped, glaring up at the girl intensely. Chisa faltered, but Rin didn't back down. "'You're mine'? You might request me all the time, but that doesn't make me a piece of your personal property!"

The whole concept made her sick; the twins called her their toy, and she'd been nothing more than the group bitch prior to her start at the academy. Just hearing Chisa trying to claim Rin as her own made the teen practically furious.

"Well? Does it?" she demanded, not at all caring that she was still at the academy and supposed to be acting the part of the harmless new student.

The look on Chisa's face hardened.

"You're supposed to be a nice person," she said bluntly.

"I _can_ be a nice person – but you aren't giving me a _reason_ to be nice!"

The brunette was taken aback. "B-but… I…"

Rin took a deep breath, more to calm herself from punching the girl than anything else. There moments where she would forget that she was in a prestigious high school and not some back alley, and usually there would be someone there to snap her back into reality. She was going to have be really careful, being as she was currently on her own.

'_Damn. Maybe Kyoya was right when he recommended the Buddy System; I could really use a chaperone right about now."_

She spoke slowly, and chose her words as carefully as she could. "Look, Chisa-chan, what is it that you wanted to show me on the fourth floor? Is it really that important to you?"

"You mean… you really couldn't tell?"

"Huh?" Rin cocked her head to one side, now thoroughly confused.

Chisa looked into the disguised teen's dark blue-green eyes intensely, sending icy darts of panic down her back. There was something wrong with the hazel irises gazing into her own. _Very wrong._

"They'll find us here," Chisa explained. "I don't want any more interruptions. Nobody goes upstairs except for classes, and there are a lot of unused rooms even further up. And I did tell you that I wanted to be alone with you…"

A pair of yellow-clad arms reached to wrap around the stunned teen. Rin managed to snap out of her horrified stupor just in time to avoid the loathsome embrace, and backed up sharply.

Chisa looked confused, then angry. "Rin-sama…"

"No way, Chisa." Rin hunched over, blue-black bangs hanging just slightly in her vision. "I hate to break it to you, but, even though you are really pretty, you're not my type."

She wanted to slap herself at that last statement. As a Host, it was rude, and just on her own, Rin felt bad. Maybe she _was _a decent-looking girl, but Rin truly felt that Chisa tried too hard to look pretty. What a testosterone-driven teenage male would have thought, however, Rin hadn't the faintest; she only _acted_ like a boy – she didn't necessarily _think _like one!

"Yes, I am! I know I am!" Chisa marched down the remaining steps, causing Rin to back up even farther. "All those other girls who come to see you are just a bunch of leeches trying to get to you just because you're a commoner and they think they can take advantage of you!"

There was a surge of ice-cold fury raging through the teen's system. A set of teeth gnashed together.

"_You know, there are people –mostly men, of course – who would take advantage of you simply because of your gender."_

"But I'm different!" the girl continued to insist, still coming near as Rin tried to distance herself. "Please, Rin-sama, accept me!"

"I already told you: I'm not interested."

Something in Chisa's eyes glinted, and suddenly Rin felt a bit uneasy. The glazed look was back, and this time there was something sinister underlying it.

"Then I guess I'll have to prove myself."

'_Crap.'_ "I'm not exactly the easily persuaded type."

The girl gave an odd sort of giggle. "Oh, I kind of figured that out, Rin-_sama_. You're very set in your ways. I like it."

'_I don't, at least not always,' _Rin thought ruefully. _'Just look at the trouble I've gotten myself into this time!'_

"And knowing that, I can tell that you've never had much experience with girls. You always keep your distance from us and even the Hosts when you can."

Rin froze. She wasn't the warm-and-friendly kind of person. Hikaru and Kaoru were always complaining of how defensive she was, and Tamaki continuously lamented how his "precious other daughter" never showed any progression in her socialization skills – even Haruhi had commented on it on more than one occasion.

She never thought anyone other than the Hosts, Yamanouchi, and Nekozawa would be able to see through it. All her interactions with Host Club customers were feigned and acted. As long as no one tried to invade her personal space, she was fine. And in a room full of girls ogling at you because you were "so dreamy and handsome", evasion of personal details became a routine job. It was easy. At least that's what she'd thought; Rin hadn't counted on there being many observant students in the academy, least of all finding out that _Chisa _was apparently one of the rare few.

"And so I can think of at least one way to gain your attention." Rin snapped out of her frame of mind to find Chisa's face barely inches from her own. She tried to back away, but the girl's arms were suddenly wrapped around her neck.

Chisa smiled evilly.

"I can give you your first ever kiss."

'_Shit.'_

Before the girl could even make a move, Rin ducked down from the embrace and pushed her roughly in the abdomen, successfully knocking Chisa down onto her rump. Not wasting even a nanosecond, the teen darted off to the side just as the thunder rumbled and Chisa's loud wail echoed along the corridors, almost as if wailed by a banshee.

"_**RIN-SAMA!"**_


	8. Pt 8: Unlikely Saviors

**Part 8: Unlikely Saviors**

Rin's heart pounded violently in her chest, the clicking sound of Chisa's heels echoing after her like a dog chasing its quarry.

And a quarry was essentially what Rin was, much to her profound disgust. All she'd done up to this point was run away, but what other options did she have? As much as she would have loved to have decked Chisa Katagiri, the problem was that she was on school grounds and couldn't afford to screw up. Kyoya wouldn't be the only one angry if she wound up in an altercation – all Chisa had to say was that a boy at school beat her up, and then Rin would find herself in a whirlwind of problems that she neither wanted nor needed.

In the end, all Rin could do was push the girl aside and flee. Cowardly and certainly not how she would ordinarily handle a situation, but necessary.

Rin openly cursed her ill fortune.

She rounded a corner and skidded, quickly picking herself back up and allowing her eyes to scan what little she could make out in the dim emergency lighting.

'_Service stairwell, service stairwell – there's gotta be a service stairwell!'_ Even _Ouran_ had to have one for its custodial faculty! If she could just find one, she could easy flee to another floor and loose Chisa that way!

The clicking sound became louder.

In evident desperation, Rin began yanking at random door handles, throwing her weight to see if even one of the doors would give in and allow her some kind of refuge from her pursuer.

"Rin-sama~!" Chisa's voice trilled not all that far away.

'_Shit!'_ She had to think of something fast. With absolutely no way of knowing where she was or how she was going to lose Chisa, Rin was rapidly running out of options. Chisa knew the school's layout far better than she did.

'_Think! Think! Think!'_ If not for the severity of the situation, Rin might have laughed at the notion of how much she sounded like Winnie-the-Pooh.

"You shouldn't run away like that, Rin-sama."

Her blood ran cold. Turning slowly, Rin saw that Chisa was standing just several feet away, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

Her hand ran unconsciously to the nearest door handle. To her stunned relief, _it twisted_.

Chisa continued towards her, hands clasped oh-so-_innocently_ in front of the billowing yellow skirt of the uniform dress.

Rin's eyes darted only briefly to the door she was nearest to. A half-baked idea was forming, but at least it was an idea.

_Click. Click. Click._

"You had me worried," the girl continued pleasantly, though her eyes were still livid. "I thought I was going to lose you again."

"Yeah, well… looks like you've got me," Rin said, somewhat breathless from running.

Chisa smiled.

"Good."

Closer and closer she came. Rin's grip on the door handle tightened.

Closer.

Closer.

_There!_

In the blink of an eye, the door wrenched open. Before Chisa knew, she was grabbed roughly by the wrist and yanked forward before being literally thrown into the custodian's closet and landing with a loud _clang_ into the mops and buckets.

Rin slammed the door shut and pressed herself fully against just as Chisa recovered and began to wail on the door.

"RIN-SAMA! LET ME OUT!"

She looked down at the door handle and then along the door's edges, praying for there to be some kind of lock or deadbolt or _something_ to keep Chisa from getting out.

To her dismay, there was nothing.

"RIN-SAMA!"

Rin whirled around and pressed her back against the wildly thudding door. _'Damn it, damn it, damn it! Where the hell is Nekozawa when you need him? I could really use that disappearing door of his right about now!'_

"RIN-SAMA! LET ME OUT _NOW_!"

"No way in hell!" Rin snapped, throwing all her weight against her door. This was bad; if someone didn't find her soon, Rin was almost positive that Chisa was going to break the door down.

"Of all the times I had to go and act like a wise-ass…" Rin mentally cursed herself. She was really going to have to start listening to Kyoya…

Green-blue eyes darted about wildly, scanning the darkness for something, _anything_ to keep the door shut just long enough for her to make an escape. Fate seemed to have decided not to act in a less antagonistic fashion, because she quickly discovered a fire hose rack not too far from where she stood.

Carefully, Rin reached a hand out to see how far she could reach. Upon seeing that she was still too far, she began to edge closer and closer, fingers wiggling insanely just to brush against the end of the hose.

Somehow, in true Ouran style, a banana peel had landed barely inches from Rin's left foot. Not at all aware of the fact, she took another step forward, reaching outward –

And promptly slipping and falling flat on her face, dragging the hose with her.

The door opening was just the slightest creak caused panic to surge through the dark-haired teen once more, and in an adrenaline-induced frenzy, Rin slammed the door on Chisa once again, this time wrapping the hose firmly around the door handle and tightening it. She then dragged the head of the hose back to the rack, and wrapped it around as firmly as she could.

She fell to her knees, panting heavily.

"Well…" she wheezed; "that could have gone better…"

The doorknob rattled, and to Rin's horror, the head of the hose began to slip.

Not wasting another minute, she scrambled to her now aching feet and darted back in the direction the elegant staircase. She wasn't great with the school's layout, but at least it was a reference point. Reference points were always a good thing.

The loud sound of something snapping from behind and a loud slamming noise prompted Rin to look back over her shoulder before she reached the stairs. She was too preoccupied in wonder whether Chisa had gotten out to notice that not only had she made it to the staircase, but that she was also no longer alone.

With a loud and unified cry of shock, cursing, and pain, Rin found herself falling down an in a tangle of arms and legs. She landed ungracefully onto something warm and struggling; there was something on top of her as well, but she was in too much of a panic to register anything clearly. All she knew was that there were two of them, whatever they were, and that was enough to make her struggle a bit.

Her elbow came in contact with something firm, prompting a loud and winded grunt from behind her.

"What the heck!" one voice protested wildly, coming from the same direction as the grunt. "Watch where you're going!"

"What the – _Rin‽_" said another, this one laced with shock and, oddly, relief. It came from just in front of her.

Rin stopped struggling long enough to stare at the two ginger-haired teens she was entangled with.

As luck would have it, she'd collided with Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin. Hikaru was the one she'd somehow managed to land atop of, practically draped across his lap as he lay splayed over the lower steps of the sweeping staircase. Kaoru had wound up falling on top of _her_, and his face was currently peering up at her from just above her heaving chest. Hikaru appeared to be looking at her sideways from his position.

The latter twin smirked. "You know, we've really got to quit meeting like this."

Rin sent him a pointed glare before Kaoru scrambled up from their awkward position, giving her a hand to help her up as well.

"Where have you been anyway?" the younger twin demanded, face lined with evident concern. "We've looking everywhere for you!"

"Hey, it isn't my fault! I've trying to run away from –"

"Rin-sama~!"

"Shit!" Rin backed up abruptly and smacked right into Hikaru, who wound up on his rear again.

"Who's _that_?" he demanded, head snapping in the direction of the voice.

"Chisa Katagiri, AKA the Ultimate Rin Tamashīzaki Psycho Fangirl," Rin said, fully prepared to bolt at the sight of her brunette stalker.

Kaoru frowned. "Princess Katagiri? The one who's always requesting you? That doesn't sound like her…"

"Believe me, Kaoru, it's Chisa."

"Rin-sama~!" the voice whined; only the _whine_ came out laced with evident irritation. "Come back this instant!"

"Like hell I will!" Rin muttered under her breath.

"Wait a minute, isn't she the one that tried following you home that one time?" Hikaru's jaw tensed. "The one Cyclops dragged back to the academy and Kyoya-sempai placed under surveillance?"

"Yeah, that's the one!"

"_**RIN-SAMA!"**_

"She sounds angry," Kaoru said, eyes widening at the thought of their bubbly client suddenly turning sadistic.

"_She's_ angry?" Rin finally exploded. "How do you think _I_ feel being _stalked _by her‽"

One elegant, pale hand clamped firmly over her mouth and an arm wrapped firmly around her shoulders. Rin twisted around to find Hikaru looking down at her harshly.

"Would you shut up?" he hissed. "If you don't want her to find you, then keep quiet!"

She would have dearly loved to have bitten his hand off at that point, but the sound of rapidly clicking heels suddenly became loud and clear – and heading in their direction.

"Too late," Kaoru grumbled, glaring in the direction of the clicking. He looked over to his twin and their companion. "Follow me. We'll have to lose her on the next floor."

Rin was suddenly yanked up the elegant flight of stairs, both of her hands captured in either of the Hitachiin brothers' and running as fast as she could in order to keep up with them. She didn't even bother to look over her shoulder to know that Chisa would follow.

"Now what?" she wheezed once they made it to the fourth floor. Looking around, all she could see were the long shadows cast by even more of the emergency lights.

"There's an unused set of classrooms several hallways down and to the left," Kaoru whispered, yanking her along.

"And across from there are a hallways of maintenance rooms," Hikaru added in the same low tone.

"And… how… does that… help me?" Rin panted; her legs burned and there was a stitch in her side. She could hardly breathe at this rate. She swallowed hard. "Are we gonna lock her in a janitor's closet? I've already tried that and _it didn't work_!"

"Don't worry about the details," the twins said in unison. The turned back and flashed her identical, mischievous smiles. "Just leave everything to us."

For a moment, Rin felt just the tiniest bit of security. It was odd, but somehow, despite her disdain for the redheaded pair, she sensed she could trust them just this once.

Maybe.

Hopefully.

**…**

She felt her hope drain all too quickly when she found herself standing alone in a dimly lit hallway.

"Hikaru! Kaoru!" she hissed angrily, thoroughly ready to pummel the two the moment she laid eyes on them. All it had taken was for her to stumble and the two were suddenly gone like a faint memory.

Rin wanted to clobber those twins. How they could possibly play a trick on her now of all times was inconceivable – no, _unbelievable_! How was this _helping_ her‽

She didn't get a chance to figure out the answer, because the now all-too-familiar sound of clicking heels began to draw near.

"Oh, not this again," she moaned under her breath.

"Rin-sama~!"

Rin didn't even budge. She was too tired at this point. If Chisa wanted act all scary and psychotic, fine. Rin was at the end of her rope with this insanity; she was just going to have to deal with the girl like any other jerk she came across and leave it at that.

She took a couple of weary steps forward and began to roll up her sleeves. She didn't get very far when a pair of slender arms wrapped themselves firmly around her waist and yanked her back against something warm and firm.

"What the –!"

"Shh!" Kaoru's grinning face leaned in over her shoulder. "Don't make a sound."

"What's going on?" she demanded in a whisper. The younger twin simply smirked and continued to pull her in a particularly dark corner.

From their position, Rin could see Chisa's approaching figure drawing nearer. She cringed a little, seeing the messy state of the girl's hair and the snags in the uniform's fabric. She almost felt bad for throwing her in that closet. Almost.

Chisa looked down several halls and opened a few doors, all the while wearing a look of frustration. Rin felt herself involuntarily tense, thinking that there was no way that she and Kaoru would go unnoticed. To her relief, Chisa stepped over the threshold of one of the classrooms, something having caught her eye.

Hikaru then darted out from his own darkened hiding place and promptly slammed the door shut.

"Got her!" he yelled.

Kaoru released his grip and Rin and dashed over to his brother, leaving the raven-haired teen in a dazed shock. The two then slammed, strangely enough, a suit of armor and several sandbags against the door, effectively cutting off Chisa's chances of escape.

Rin found herself gawking at the pair incredulously as they hi-fived each other. "What the… where the heck did you people _get_ all that stuff‽"

"This is Ouran," the replied casually. "We can get virtually anything around here."

"Yeah, except you medication for your psychotically deranged students," Rin grumbled under her breath. She sighed heavily and slid down against the wall, exhausted.

"Here."

She looked up and found her slippers being held out to her. Kaoru was just beyond them.

Without a word, she took the footwear and slipped them on, wincing a little at stinging pain now going through the soles of her feet as she stood up.

Rin briefly locked eyes with the two but then quickly averted her gaze, completely embarrassed from the whole ordeal.

"Look, uh…" she swallowed, not at all used to being in this position. "Thanks. For helping me."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Kaoru said, flashing her a cheerful grin.

"Yeah." Hikaru playfully messed up her hair. "It's not like we were going to let anyone touch you anyway."

"And why's that?" Rin demanded, eyeing the two suspiciously.

The two smiled like a pair of Cheshire cats and leaned against her on either side, successfully making her the filling of a Hikaru-Rin-and-Kaoru sandwich.

"Because we don't like sharing our toys."

A loud, united _oomph_ resounded throughout the shadowy halls as the twins fell to their knees clutching their stomachs.

Rin simply folded her arms and gave them both an exasperated, disapproving (yet nevertheless somewhat amused) look.

"You two never learn, do you?"

**…**

In the darkness of the currently empty music room, a cell phone lit up and sprang up with a sharp ringtone. A slender hand reached out and promptly flipped the communication device open.

"_Everything's going according to plan!"_ a chirpy voice on the other end reported happily. _"This was the most perfect opportunity!"_

"I'm glad to hear it," the young man said, smirking at little at the laptop he had in front of him. "Keep up the good work."

"_You've got it!"_

The call ended quickly. The cell phone was set aside.

Outside, the typhoon picked up in intensity, causing the windows to rattle from the wind.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: **__Chisa's role was really creepy! But she's currently taken care of, and now the twins are back – yay! But the night isn't over yet~!_


	9. Pt 9:The Forgotten Corridor

**Part 9: The Forgotten Corridor**

There times when Rin wondered if there was ever a way for her to permanently remain angry at Hikaru and Kaoru. It seemed that no matter how many times the grated on her nerves, she inevitably wound up forgiving them and laughing alongside them at the end.

At the moment, she found herself being overwhelmingly grateful for their possessive natures, and even happier to know that they hadn't given up their beloved pastime of following her around. Now that she was in lighthearted company, she was able to relax a little bit while walking down the darkened corridors of Ouran.

But there was still something nagging at her.

"You know, I can't believe Chisa was trying to go after me again," she said after a while. The twins stopped and looked at her. "I was hoping that Yama-kun's intervention that one time would've put an end to it."

"Not to mention Kyoya-sempai's family police force keeping her under surveillance," Hikaru added with a frown. "There's obviously something wrong with that girl."

"Yeah, but the fact that she tried pulling something at the academy is pretty worrisome." Kaoru stared at Rin with a serious look on his face.

Hikaru noticed it immediately. "Maybe we should let Kyoya-sempai and the Boss know about this."

"It might be a good idea to have her banned from the Host Club."

"Yeah, but…" Rin faltered.

"But what?" the twins demanded.

"Jeez, Rin, that girl was being serious!" Hikaru nearly yelled. "Didn't you see the look on her face? She was totally out to get you!"

"And it was pretty obvious that she wasn't going to give up anytime soon," Kaoru added.

Rin frowned down at the floor. "Look, guys, it's not that I'm saying it's a bad idea – although Kyoya will probably have our hides for suggesting it, since Chisa's a pretty frequent customer."

Kaoru grimaced. Hikaru, however, was furious.

"Who cares about that? She's a danger!"

"And I'm not?" Rin looked at him pointedly. "I'm the kid who brought the lead pipe to school, remember?"

Hikaru's mouth snapped shut. Judging by the tightness of his jaw, he obviously wasn't pleased with the situation.

Kaoru waved his hands helplessly at the two. "All right, everyone, let's just calm down. Why don't we just get back to the clubroom and let Kyoya-sempai know that Rin's okay, and _then_ we can worry about Chisa when everyone gets back."

"'When everyone gets back'?" Rin frowned. "Did _all of you_ go looking for me?"

"Duh!" the twins deadpanned.

"After the Boss woke up and noticed you were gone, he freaked out, woke everyone up, and started dragging Haruhi all over the place. Once we realized you weren't in the bathroom or anywhere nearby, Kyoya-sempai organized us into pairs so we could look for you," Hikaru explained.

"Kyoya-sempai stayed behind in case you decided to wander back," Kaoru finished.

Rin cringed inwardly. "Something tells me he isn't a happy camper at the moment."

"No, not really," Hikaru admitted nervously. "Considering that he was woken up by the Boss… hehe…"

Given the Shadow King's reputed dislike of being awoken abruptly, Rin found herself even more grateful to be with the twins. She _definitely_ didn't want to be anywhere near Kyoya at the present.

Then she remembered something.

"Hey, if you all were looking for me, was it you guys that I heard calling out my name?"

The brothers exchanged confused glances.

"What are you talking about?"

"We were on the other side of the school the entire time," Kaoru elaborated. "And Tamaki-sempai and Haruhi are on the second floor."

"Honey-sempai wanted to see if you sneaked into the kitchens, so he and Mori-sempai are on the ground floor," Hikaru added.

"But…" Rin frowned heavily. "If you guys were doing it, then who…?"

"It was probably Chisa," said Hikaru. "Who else could it have been?"

"No, it wasn't her. She calls me 'Rin-_sama_'; the voice kept saying 'Rin-_chan_'."

Kaoru raised an eyebrow. "What did the voice sound like?"

"Well, it sounded like –"

"_Rin-chan…"_

"Yeah! Just like that!" A series of exclamation points appeared over their heads. "Uh… who said that?"

"_Rin-chan…"_

"It wasn't me," the twins said simultaneously, stiffening.

"_Rin-chan…"_

"Nekozawa-sempai?" Kaoru called out, for once hoping the black-cloaked third year was somewhere around and trying to live up to his creepy reputation.

"What makes you think it's _him_?" Hikaru asked, looking at his younger brother incredulously.

"If it _is_ Nekozawa, he's got a lot of explaining to do," Rin hissed through clenched teeth. While she and the Black Magic Club's president were relatively close friends, he could still get on her nerves (though it was an extreme rarity).

"_Rin-chan…"_ The voice came out high-pitched and eerie.

Kaoru blanched alongside the other two. "On second thought… that doesn't sound like Nekozawa-sempai."

"You don't have any more psychopathic fangirls stalking you, do you?" Hikaru glanced nervously in Rin's direction.

"How should I know‽"

"_Hikaru… Kaoru…"_ The twins froze. _"Rin-chan…"_

Rin looked at the both of them back-and-forth, eyes slightly narrowed. "Are there any psychopaths stalking _you two_ that I need to know about?"

"That's a good question," Kaoru said, shrinking back away from the direction of the voice.

"_Hikaru… Kaoru… Rin-chan…"_ Even more voice joined in, creating a sort of sing-song chorus as they continued to chant. _"Hikaru… Kaoru… Rin-chan…"_

Rin sighed loudly and slouched forward wearily. She hadn't the faintest idea what time it was, but she was _tired_. "Y'know, I'm _really_ starting to get sick of this crap."

"All right, knock it off!" Hikaru yelled loudly, taking a threatening step forward in the darkness. "I don't care who you are; _some_ of us would like to get back to sleep!"

"And preferably sooner than later!" Rin hollered, stepping up next to him.

There was a tangible silence.

"Think they took the hint?" Rin looked at the two, who merely shrugged.

"_Hikaru… Kaoru… Rin-chan…"_ The voices returned, only now they came from different directions, some sounding closer than others. And worst of all –

Kaoru's eyes widened. "Is it my imagination or are there more of them than before?"

"The Ouran Host Club Stalker Society?" Rin hazarded, only a minute fraction of her meaning the suggestion as a joke.

"Wait… isn't this the fourth floor?" Kaoru and Rin looked over to Hikaru questioningly.

He returned the look with a massive frown. "Don't you two remember what Nekozawa-sempai was telling us earlier about the fourth floor? That one of hallways up here is supposed to be haunted?"

"That's only the science hall!" Rin snapped, remembering the conversation vividly.

"Uh, Rin?" She looked over to Kaoru, and was surprised to find he'd paled another shade lighter.

"What?"

"This _is_ the science hall."

Rin's jaw dropped. "What‽"

"That room we locked Chisa in…" she looked at Hikaru expectantly. He looked away, not wanting to meet her intensely question gaze. "That was the second dissection lab."

Rin's eyes widened.

"_And I take it you have no evidence to support the apparition in the old science labs, either?"_

"_WHAT?" Nekozawa smirked at the horrified looks gracing his presence._

"_There was another student in the academy said to have taken their life as well. A young man whom, for some reason we have yet to fathom, still lurks the so-called Forgotten Corridor."_

"_The fourth-floor science hall…" Tamaki gulped. "I've heard stories about that place… like if you go in the second dissection lab, a shadow will follow you – a shadow that isn't your own…"_

"'The voice that calls your name when there's no one there…'" she quoted, suddenly remembering Honey-sempai's nervous addition to the conversation. She shook herself mentally. "But there's no such thing as ghosts!"

"_Hikaru… Kaoru… Rin-chan…"_

"Great, you can tell the creepy, disembodied voices that later, but let's get out of here first!" Hikaru grabbed at her wrist and yanked her in the opposite direction, Kaoru grabbing her free hand and whirling her around.

They froze. Standing several feet away was a pale and rather pathetic-looking young man in his mid-teens. He was looking at them in a rather surprised fashion, almost as if he was astonished to have found anyone else here.

But that wasn't what made them feel as though their souls had suddenly fled from their bodies.

_They could see right through his body_.


	10. Pt 10: Trapped

**Part 10: Trapped**

Their screams were loud and shrill, harmful to the eardrums of anything with even the most remote hearing capabilities within the immediate vicinity. All Rin knew was that she was screaming the word "GHOST!" at the top of her lungs – outdone only by the combined lung-power of Hikaru and Kaoru – and then suddenly she was yanked into a nearby empty classroom, the door slamming shut with ear-shattering finality.

**…**

Five people pooled together in the middle of the hallway, laughter threatening to overtake them at any given moment.

"Oh… my god!" one back snorted into his hand. "D-did you get all that?"

"You bet!" the third-year next to him guffawed. "Man – their reactions were _priceless_!"

"I can't believe that they fell for the projection image," said another, who moved off to one side and shut off the projection machine, cutting off the flickering image of the transparent boy several yards down the hall.

One of the girls looked over to a familiar light-haired girl who was trying not to laugh up a storm.

"I honestly didn't expect Rin-kun to act like that!" she nearly squealed. "You were so totally right!"

"Yeah, how'd you figure Tamashīzaki-kun would freak out, anyway?" One of the other boys

The other girl smirked devilishly. "Rin-kun's a very hard boy to predict, but even _he_ has his weaknesses! I told you my idea would work!"

"Considering your affiliation, I'm not at all surprised," the first boy cackled. "Oh, man… getting back at those Hitachiins just made my night! I can't wait to see how this all turned out!"

"All right, it's time to move onto the next phase!" the light-haired girl proclaimed, earning herself a smattering of shushing from the others.

The third year with the projection machine moved down the hall before stopping in front of one of the classroom doors. He waved over to the rest of the group, indicating that it was indeed the room their prey had dove into.

"So, what do we do next?" asked one of the boys.

"We need to make that classroom as creepy as possible," said the light-haired girl. She looked over to the projection machine operator inquisitively. "Can you jiggle the lock?"

He nodded, and attempted to twist the door handle.

He looked down at the handle suspiciously, and jiggled it even more.

"You're kidding me…" he muttered.

"Hey, what's up?" the second boy inquired, looking over the young man's shoulder.

The elder third-year gave them all a rather bewildered look.

"It's…"

**…**

"Locked!" Hikaru exploded, trying to yank at the doorknob in another futile attempt.

"It looks like Mori-sempai wasn't kidding when he mentioned the mysteriously locking doors," Kaoru murmured.

"Wonderful," Rin deadpanned. She rolled her eyes and looked over their surroundings in evident distaste. "An apparition in the hallway, a creepy old science classroom that still has jars of dead things floating in formalin, a stalker fangirl, and now a mysteriously locked door. The only thing we're missing now is the dead body."

"That isn't exactly something you'd want to say in a place like this," Kaoru commented, looking warily at the jars the girl had mentioned.

"Oh, I give up!" Hikaru kicked the door in frustration before whirling around and slumping down to the floor. He looked up at the other two sulkily. "It looks like we're stuck in here."

"How lovely." Rin sank against a nearby counter and let out a loud and exasperated sigh. "Look, isn't there a way we can get in contact with one of the others? You didn't just dart out of the music room without your cell phones, did you?"

She was answered with a united "Uh… "

She mentally smacked herself.

"Wait, isn't there usually a phone lying around in case of emergencies?" Kaoru dashed over to the empty teacher's desk and began to look around in the dim lighting the single emergency light in the front of the room could provide. "Since the backup generators are what have the emergency lights on, wouldn't it be reasonable to assume that there would be a phone line open in case something happened?"

Hope surged through the raven-haired teen like a new breath of life.

"I don't see why not. Maybe we can get a hold of Kyoya, and he can get someone to come up here!" she nearly cheered, pushing herself from her slouched position and moving to help the younger twin. Hikaru went in the opposite direction.

After a bit more searching, Kaoru located the phone. Rin and Hikaru watching intently, he listened for a dial tone.

His face fell.

"It's dead."

Rin slammed her head down into her hands while Hikaru groaned loudly.

Kaoru looked at the useless communication device sadly as he pushed it off to the side. "I guess the storm must've knocked down the phone lines around the same time as the power lines."

There was a sudden crack of lightning, followed by a loudly, thundering _boom_ that caused all three of them to jump.

"Would you believe that with all the insanity going on, I totally forgot about the thunderstorm?" Rin laughed nervously.

"With all the time that's gone by, it should've let up by now," Hikaru mused as he walked over to the windows. He reached out and pulled aside the overhanging slats to peer outside.

Kaoru and Rin leaned in behind him, Kaoru looking over his brother's shoulder and Rin having to nudge the two aside. All three were stunned greatly to find that the situation outdoors hadn't gotten any better.

If anything, it was worse! Debris littered what they could make out of Ouran's campus, and tree branches waved about even more wildly than before, smacking against the streetlamps and floundering in the torrential rain. Several tree branches were dangerously close to being snapped off and sent flying. Rin was surprised that she couldn't see any broken windows.

Almost as if to remedy the latter observation, a tree branch whipped into their vision and slammed into the window. The three second-years each let out a yelp and jumped back. Hikaru let go of the curtain slats, causing them to clatter together,

"All right, we're definitely going to have to stay away from the windows," he said, eyeing said window nervously.

"Great idea, but that one window spans across a majority of the room," Rin pointed out, gesturing for emphasis. "And this place is littered with all sorts of dangerous stuff." She looked over at the door again. "Can't we open it at all?"

Kaoru moved over and gave it an attempt, but wound up shaking his head in defeat.

"Forget it."

"Move over." Rin pushed him aside and twisted the handle violently. When that didn't work, she threw her weight against the door, still to no avail.

"So much for that," she said ruefully, rubbing her now very sore shoulder. "Great. So now we're stuck in here?"

"Looks like it." Hikaru sighed and looked over the room again before casting an accusatory glance in the disguised girl's direction. "This is all your fault, you know. If you'd let someone know where you were going, we wouldn't have gotten into this mess!"

"Well _excuse me_ for not waking someone up just because I needed to step out for a moment!" Rin snapped, not at all in the mood for the older boy's snarky attitude. "I was only planning on going to the bathroom and straight back – how was I supposed to know that I'd get lost‽"

"Okay, Rin, calm down," Kaoru intoned, patting her gently on the back.

"Calm down? Tell your idiot brother to get off my case!"

"_I'm_ the idiot? Look who had a panic attack because she was being followed!"

"Hey, you freaked out too!"

"Come on, you two…" Kaoru sighed in exasperation. Sometimes he didn't know what to do with either his brother or that reckless commoner.

"Did not!"

"Yes you did – and don't deny it!"

There was a loud and audible _crack_. It interrupted the two's argument, snapping them into silence long enough to stare at the window warily. Outside, the window howled violently, and they could actually hear the debris hitting against the school building.

"I don't think this room is safe," Hikaru noted lowly.

"Neither do I, but what can we do? The door's locked!"

"There's a storage closet over here." The two looked over to find Kaoru peering into what looked like another custodian's closet. "It's small, but at least there aren't any windows."

Rin peered around him to get a better look and inwardly panicked at the smallness of it. Three people crowded into that tiny little room… and two of them being _the twins_…

A shrill whistling sound pervaded the air, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end. She suddenly became aware of a draft in the room she hadn't noticed before.

'_What the…?'_

Without leaving her the option to argue, one of the twins yanked her into the closet while the other slammed the door shut just seconds before the was a _CRASH_ and the sound of breaking glass. She landed on her rear with a dull _thump_.

"What was that?" Rin demanded in the sudden pitch-blackness of her surroundings.

"I don't know, but I sure don't want to find out," Hikaru said somewhere to her left.

Rin frowned. "So now what do we do?"

"Just try to wait out the storm until someone finds us, I guess," Kaoru said on her right, sounding weary. She thought she heard Hikaru stifle a yawn.

"Well, at least we're all together…" she wiggled a little, and accidentally elbowed Hikaru in the stomach. "Hey, could you scoot over? It's awfully cramped."

"I wish I could, but I'm kinda squished as it is. Hey, Kaoru? Think you could move over a little?"

"Not really. Wait, whose arm is that?"

"Mine." Rin yanked her arm back upon feeling a set of fingers brush lightly against it. _'Of all the people to get locked in a closet with…'_

That last thought was probably her last coherent one for the night. She stifled a yawn, but failed at it miserably. The night's events had finally caught up to her it seemed.

"Hey, Rin, I've got an idea –"

Hikaru's voice swam in and out of her comprehension, words blurring together and hardly making any sense. Before she knew it, Rin was fast asleep.


	11. Pt 11: The Morning After

**Part 11: The Morning After**

Rin how no idea how long it had been when the voices began to annoy her.

"Well, at least we know where they are now."

"See? Next time you freak me out like that, Suoh, you're dead."

"B-b-but…"

"Do you think we should wake them?"

'_No. just go away and let me sleep,'_ she snapped mentally. It was too early to get up…

"Yes, we should wake them up! Get them away from my little girl!"

'_Go to Hell, Sempai.'_

"Aw… but there're so cute together, Tama-chan!"

"I'm with Sempai on this one. Rin won't be happy about this."

'_What won't I be happy about?'_ she wondered groggily.

"I say let's just watch the fireworks." Was that Yamanouchi's voice? What was _he_ doing here?

There was a small flash of light.

"KYOYA! DELETE THAT IMMEDIA –!"

"Shut it, Suoh!"

"Shi-chan's so cute when she's asleep! Kyo-chan, can you give me a copy?"

Rin mumbled a curse, wanting to fling something at the irritating voices. She didn't care if Nekozawa had been dabbling with summoning spells and Yamata no Orochi had come back to life and was now demanding her as a sacrifice – she was too comfortable where she was. It wasn't often she found herself so relaxed. She was warm, she was safe. Maybe the weight on her side wasn't all that welcome, but it wasn't all _that _bad. Heck, she even somehow managed to wind up with a fairly decent pillow! What the heck was wrong with everyone? Couldn't they let a girl get some rest?

"Well, as amusing as this all is, _somebody_ had better wake 'em up so we can at least get breakfast. I'm starving!"

Rin's stomach rumbled. _'Aw, man…'_

Blue-green eyes hesitantly opened, looking up to find that she was currently under keen scrutiny. Just about everyone was standing over her: Haruhi was the nearest, and she appeared to frowning, while Kyoya simply stood behind her with his arms folded, smirking. Mori was as taciturn and emotionless as ever, Honey-sempai dangling from his neck looking down with wide and twinkling eyes.

What she couldn't understand was why Yamanouchi was looking at her from off to the side and grinning enormously as he appeared to be restraining one _very_ frazzled Tamaki. The Host King looked ready pass out at any given moment from stress.

Hikaru and Kaoru were curiously missing from the group.

"Okay…" she said woozily. "What're you all staring at?"

The sandy-haired nineteen-year-old winked at her with his remaining eye. "A nice little image fangirls would simply _die_ for."

"Get away… from… my… little girl…" Tamaki growled, violet eyes darting to either side of the now very confused Rin.

She decided to follow his train of sight, and felt a surge of blood rush toward her face. What she'd thought was a pillow was actually Kaoru's chest, which she'd apparently fallen against at some point in the night. The boy himself was out cold, snoring gently with his arm just barely draped over her shoulder while the other still held onto her from the back.

Her eyes trailed downward, not at all liking the conclusion she was coming to. Sure enough, Hikaru was the weight on side, his head buried under her free arm, and both of his own arms wrapped firmly around her waist.

"I-I…" She had absolutely no words for this situation.

Yamanouchi grinned evilly. "Have a nice night, Rin-Rin?"

She looked at him fiercely. "This isn't what it looks like!"

"Hey, keep it down, would you?" Kaoru grumbled, shifting a little and deciding to bury the lower portion of his face in Rin's currently mussed up hair. "It's too early for all the yelling."

"Yeah, some of us are trying to sleep." Hikaru's grip seemed to get even tighter. Yamanouchi snickered, making Tamaki even more livid.

"Oh, this is priceless~."

"Yamanouchi…" Rin said warningly, giving him the worst glare she could muster under the circumstances. Unfortunately, it only succeeded in making the olive-green eyed boy snicker even more uncontrollably.

"RIN-SAMA!"

The loud shriek startled the two redheads into awakening abruptly, forcing them into stark realization of their current position a little too early to Rin's liking. But before anything further than an identical set of blushes and wide-eyed stares could be put into play, a brunette human torpedo launched herself into landing direction onto Rin, knocking her back against Kaoru.

The teen blinked rapidly, her mind half registering the relief at having left the bindings on her chest the previous evening out of sheer paranoia. The rest of her mind was far too stunned to be sending the correct signals at the present.

"Hey, get off of Rin, you psycho stalker!" Hikaru snapped, not at all happy to have been pushed away from the relatively comfortable position he'd been in.

"Rin-sama, please forgive me!" Chisa wailed, ignoring the elder twin while hugging the disguised girl fiercely. "I didn't want to act all mean and scary like that, but they asked me to and I couldn't help it!"

"I – wait, _what_?" Rin pried her off and looked at her in utter bafflement.

"Ah, yes, perhaps we ought to explain ourselves." The entirety of the Host Club and Yamanouchi looked in the direction of the unfamiliar voice. Standing just past the threshold of the classroom was a tall and rather formidable third-year student with sepia colored hair and wire-rimmed glasses. Behind him were several others, and, surprisingly, Renge Houshakuji. The Host Club's self-proclaimed female manager gave Rin a flirtatious wave, and blew the teen a kiss.

As Rin made an attempt not to roll her eyes, the third-year boy's dark brown eyes swept over the classroom in mild distaste.

"I can see you all had quite the evening in here."

Rin, Hikaru, and Kaoru all leaned forward, shoving Chisa aside, to take a look. The all gasped. The classroom was a total wreck; the window was severely damaged from where a rather large tree limb had come in contact with it, resulting in outside debris and several broken jars of preserved specimens littering the once pristine floor.

"Whoa…" Rin gulped. "It's a good thing you guys decided on hauling us into this closet…" she frowned and then looked up at the third-year, whom merely looked down at her with a politely raised eyebrow. "But who are you?"

"Please forgive me for not introducing myself earlier. My name is Enishi Sakuma," he said, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I'm the president of the Movie Club."

"The Movie Club?" The twins and Rin looked at one another questioningly.

"Yes. We're a relatively quiet organization, operating behind-the-scenes until the time of our release dates."

"Release dates?" Rin was thoroughly confounded.

"The Movie Club makes it a point to put on a special feature film for each semester," Kyoya explained. "Up until the week before the opening presentation, the school is widely kept in the dark about the project, and even after the posters go up all that is left is speculation." He looked rather darkly in the Movie Club President's direction. "You could say that they're a very _selective_ bunch."

"The key to marketing is to allow for massive public speculation, then cleverly throwing littler teasers to gain interest," Sakuma said coolly. "The more hype added to your presentation, the more of an audience you're certain to gather. Of course, this only works to your advantage if the film is even _worth_ the speculation. As the Movie Club's president, I make it a point to deliver only what is rendered out of the absolute best of our creative abilities."

'_I think I just found another candidate for the Arrogance Award,'_ Rin thought sourly as she looked at the boy. She got the feeling Enishi Sakuma could give Kyoya a run for his money – and that wasn't something she would joke about lightly.

"That's nice and all, but what are all of you doing here?" she demanded, brushing aside her comparisons and going back to the issue at hand. "And why is Renge with you?"

"Miss Houshakuji agreed to assist us with our latest collaboration," replied Sakuma. "As for why we are here, we were simply trying to get some potential footage for the final scenes."

"What final scenes?" asked Haruhi, wearing the same look of bemusement that like mimicked the one Rin was certain she was wore as well.

"Oh, you mean you didn't know?" Renge looked somewhat astonished. "I'm surprised Kyoya-sempai didn't tell you! But I guess it's better that this turned out like this! It's so much more realistic!"

"_What_ didn't Kyoya tell us?" Tamaki cast an overly suspicious look in the Shadow King's direction.

"I asked Miss Houshakuji if it would be permissible to use the Host Club for the cast of our latest film project," Sakuma explained. "After hearing her favorable opinion on the subject, I sought audience with Kyoya after club hours one evening for a consultation. After obtaining his permission, we began to exchange information with Miss Houshakuji acting as a median."

"Wait, so…" Tamaki's eyes widened and he began to yell, "Kyoya, do you mean to tell that you knew what was going on the entire time‽"

"Not the entire time, really," replied the Shadow King. "The original plan was to wait until the summer to begin production, but when the storm hit, Sakuma decided to capture some choice night footage to be considered during the editing process."

"Just what kind of a film is this supposed to be, anyway?" Yamanouchi inquired.

"A film of the horror and supernatural genres."

"The film is set in a prestigious academy that is supposedly haunted by the spirits of students who died," explained the blond first-year standing just off to the side. "Ouran was our natural choice for that. Oh yeah, I'm Ishiro Nagai, by the way. I handle the settings and lighting."

"Hiroyuki Inoue, special effects technician," said the tallest third-year. "We decided to use the Host Club as our main cast, seeing as it is such a popular after-school attraction. Not only would it bring immediate fan appeal, we would also be able to work with previously established relationships without having to alter anything."

"The script was composed by both Miss Houshakuji and myself," continued Sakuma. "The basic concept of the storyline was to introduce the Host Club as the ideal teenagers and role models of the academy. However, not everyone sees them in the most positive of light, and soon they become the targets of the vengeful spirits residing in the abandoned portions of the academy.

"In essence, it's a tale of balancing light and dark while incorporating romance with a certain level of horror," he elaborated. "After several revisions of the script, we decided upon casting the Hitachiin twins and Tamashīzaki-kun as the more prominent of our protagonists."

"But why us?" Kaoru practically demanded, frowning up at the Movie Club President.

"Because you three are currently our most profitable draw," Kyoya answered, wearing a rather self-satisfied smirk. "I suggested that Sakuma and Renge work the script in manner that not only highlighted the Host Club in its entirety, but focused on characters that would bring in a significant number of attendants the official viewing. Looking over our recent records, the Hitachiin-Tamashīzaki triangle is a solid source of revenue."

"But we weren't intending to do any film shooting until the summer holidays," Ishiro said with a shrug. "It just so happened that we found Tamashīzaki-kun lost in the hallways last night, and we just decided to start experimenting." He smirked in the teen's direction. "I think you actually did better than if we'd scripted it – you were great filming material! The twins, too!"

"And your reactions to what we threw at you were astounding!" Renge crowed.

"Wait, so it was _you _who kept calling out my name last night?" Rin looked at the Host Club manager incredulously.

"Actually, that was me," a tiny blonde admitted sheepishly from behind the Movie Club's president. "I'm Suzume Taka, by the way. I'm the Movie Club's secretary and bookkeeper."

"But what does that have to do with Miss Psycho stalking Rin last night?" Hikaru demanded, jerking his thumb in the silent Chisa's direction. "What was up with that?"

"Chisa-chan's one of our more valuable members!" Suzume chimed in with a smile. "She's done a lot of background acting for our more recent productions, and she's helped us coach a few of our actors when she was still in middle school. The day she tried to follow you home that one time was actually a warm-up exercise. Kyoya-sempai was in on it the entire time."

"Wait, you mean I threatened a girl who was only _acting_?" Yamanouchi growled, and looked daggers in the Shadow King's direction. "Ōtori, you bast–!"

"Really, it's quite all right!" Chisa interrupted, waving her hands. "I was actually expecting you to threaten me, to be honest, Yamanouchi-kun. Kyoya-sempai warned me about it in advanced, but I still wanted to see what I could pull it off. There's no harm done, really!"

"But what the heck was all that last night?" Rin asked, eyeing the girl warily. "It was all really convincing."

"Thanks, Rin-sama!" she chirped. "Actually, my role in the film was to play the girl whose unrequited love for one of the main characters allows for her to be manipulated by one of the more malevolent of the spirits. What I was doing last night was acting out the scene where I was supposed to have lost myself to possession as I stalked the object of my infatuation in the school at night."

'_Well, you sure had that down to a tee,'_ the teen thought sourly. _'It makes me wonder just how in-character she had to get to do all that… she sure had me fooled…'_ she shuddered inwardly.

"I must admit, the storm provided for us a very opportune chance at catching not only some very good shots, but also excellent film material." Sakuma grinned openly, causing a cold shiver to run down Rin's spine. "The interaction between our star yaoi trio and also how they handled everything thrown at them was truly ingenious. I can almost guarantee that those scenes will be used in the final edit."

"And throwing Chisa in the haunted dissection lab was pretty darn good," Ishiro supplied with a grin. "The original screenplay had Chisa getting killed by one of the main characters out of self-defense, but I liked what you guys did a _whole_ lot better."

"So everything last night… was _rigged_?" Rin buried her face in her hands. "You've gotta be kidding me…"

"Talk about your wasted effort," she heard Hikaru grumble.

"I can't believe we didn't actually save her from anything," Kaoru mumbled.

"What did you two say?" she demanded, looking back-and-forth between them testily.

"Nothing."

She sighed heavily. "Whatever. Oh yeah," Rin rested her elbows on her knees. "Nice trick with the boy in the hallway, guys. Next time you pull that kind of garbage, I suggest you do it to someone else! I nearly had a heart attack!"

Renge blinked in confusion. "Boy…?"

"Yeah, boy." Hikaru rolled his eyes. "You know; the one you guys went and had stand outside in the hallway last night?"

"Just which one of you decided to do something like that, anyway?" Kaoru inquired. "Because, now that I think about it, it _was_ pretty impressive."

Renge and the members of the Movie Club looked at one another bewilderedly. Kyoya raised an eyebrow.

"Is anything the matter?"

"Well…" Renge looked unnaturally perturbed. "Hang on a sec. Hiroyuki?"

The special effects technician nodded and pulled out the projection machine.

"Is this the boy you saw?" he inquired, flipping on the switch.

The Host Club members watched with keen interest as the image flickered into life, revealing a younger man in Ouran's school uniform. The uniform was ill-kept and appeared to be stained; the man himself had sunken eyes and leered at the wall evilly.

"Creepy!" Honey-sempai exclaimed, hugging onto Mori intently. Tamaki flinched at its appearance while Yamanouchi simply looked at the projection in evident distaste.

Hikaru, Kaoru, and Rin looked at one another, eyes wide and disbelieving.

"Is something wrong?" asked Sakuma.

Rin gave him a hard look.

"Quite screwing around with us. That isn't the kid we saw last night! He was just about your height and he just looked a little confused when he saw us up there. He did _not _–" she gestured at the projection "– looking like something from a B-grade horror movie!"

"Hey! Takahashi-sensei dressed up specifically for the occasion!" Ishiro protested. "Have some respect for the man – he's one of our top contributors!"

"But what _we_ saw last night wasn't the Chemistry teacher's projection!" Hikaru defended.

"No, we saw an honest-to-goodness _ghost_ looking at us in the hallway!" said Kaoru, leaning forward eagerly. "It's just like Rin and Hikaru said; and he didn't act like he was expecting us at all!"

"And we could see right through him!" added Hikaru.

"I'm not a believer in spooks," Rin said levelly, "but there's absolutely no way I was seeing things. And if these two goofs saw it, I _know_ it was there."

"Who're you calling a 'goof'?" Hikaru muttered.

The Movie Club members and Renge looked at them in utter bewilderment, only to snap out of their reverie by enthusiastic clapping. Looking in the direction of the sound, they were mildly surprised to see that it was their own Club President.

"Ah, yes! I see! Truly brilliant!" Sakuma looked upward, clearly in his own little world. "A truly wonderful idea, and perfect for our storyline! I'm thoroughly impressed that the three of you could come up with it in such an impromptu fashion!"

"We're not making this up!" the three insisted vehemently, leaning forward and wearing the same look of consternation upon their faces.

Left unnoticed in the far, darkened corner of the classroom, Nekozawa chuckled darkly.

"I _told_ them the school was haunted~."

And with that, the black doors creaked slowly to a shut, Nekozawa laughing in his clubroom as Rin, Hikaru, and Kaoru continued to insist that they were not joking around.


	12. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Several weeks after the storm, everything had seemingly gone back into what qualified – by Ouran standards, at least – as normal.

"Will you guys quit following me‽"

Hikaru and Kaoru synchronously cocked their heads to one side. "Why should we?"

"Because you're driving me nuts!"

Matching devilish grins graced their handsomely pale countenances.

"Oh, but Rin~" Hikaru whined, sidling up the fuming teen.

"We just want to spend more time with you~" wheedled Kaoru, mimicking his brother's movements on the girl's other side.

Rin glared at either twin in positive frustration. "What for? You see me in class, and you harass me at club time! How much more _time_ do you two feel the need to irritate me with‽"

Her face was tilted to her left.

"You're not being very fair," Hikaru said, his mock disapproving frown a mere centimeters from her face. "Ever since the night we were stuck at the school, you've been making it a point to distance yourself from us."

"And even if our customers think it's cute to see you playing skittish, we don't really like it," Kaoru added, tilting her head to the right in order to face him. His gold eyes were practically dancing with mischief, though nowhere nearly as vibrantly as his brother's were. "Is it because we spent the night together in that closet?"

It took Rin everything she had to beat back the oncoming blood rush to her face at the memory.

"No, it's not!" she said, more firmly than she felt she was capable of as she swatted the younger twin's hand aside. "Don't go getting any ideas into those twisted, devilish minds of yours because I'm not falling for any more of your tricks!"

"It sound like you're already falling," teased Hikaru.

"Though I'd hardly say 'for tricks'," said Kaoru.

Two very large and ominous set of texts were brandished before them, English aimed at Hikaru, and History aimed at Kaoru.

"Look, you two," Rin said, glaring at them from behind the volumes; "Ever since that Movie Club showed up with its crazy project, I haven't been able to get a break from either one of you! I'd like to have my personal space back, thank you!"

What she said was true enough; ever since the night of the storm, the Host Club had been busy not only with its usual activities, but also the Movie Club's latest project. After a great deal of persuasion and wheedling Tamaki into agreeing with it, Kyoya had signed them onto the production, thus creating a whole new cycle of insanity. Rin's hopes of escaping at the end of the day and hiding at home during the weekends had been dashed to pieces; the Movie Club insisted upon nightly shootings in addition to the footage they gathered during the day, when they secretly filmed Host Club interactions during normal business hours. During the film shootings, Rin had been subjected to even more physical contact with the twins than she was comfortable with. Adding that into their ritualistic harassment at her place of employment, Rin was very much fed up with dealing with the two.

"But that's all for the club; we want to spend time with our toy," Hikaru insisted, grabbing the English text and yanking it upward, bringing the teen into the compromising position of nearly falling into him.

And wound up doing anyway despite her efforts to remain upright, as Kaoru saw fit to lean in close to her face, startling her.

"There's really no point in trying to avoid us," he said with a bit of a smirk. "We usually get our way."

"That's because you're a couple of spoiled brats who've never been given 'no' as an answer," Rin retorted, trying to escape from the hold Hikaru had on her.

"Now you're just being mean."

"No, I'm stating fact. You both should learn to get over yourselves soon, because Reality-Land isn't all about making a couple of rich kids happy."

"Rin-sama~!" a voice trilled, causing the aforementioned teen to sigh loudly in a mixture of exasperation and relief.

"Over here, Chisa-chan!" she called out, grateful only for the distraction. Since finding out about the girl's involvement with the Movie Club, Rin was still pretty leery of her. Chisa might have been a swell actress, but she was still one of Rin's more obsessive clients.

The smiling brunette practically bounced up to the three, waving a paper about fanatically.

"I just wanted to give you this! It's the official flier for our movie presentation! It's in two weeks from now, and the cast and crew get choice seats! Here!" she shoved three envelopes in the teen's hands. "Those are the tickets for you, Hikaru-kun, and Kaoru-kun! I have to deliver the rest, so see you soon~!"

"What? So soon?" Rin looked down at the designated envelopes incredulously. "But I thought movies took a really long time to make…"

**…**

Two weeks flew by without reprieve from the twins and before she knew it, Rin was sandwiched in-between the Hitachiin twins in the front row of Ouran Academy's Student Theatre. The theatre was slam-packed with students, a majority of it decidedly female in gender and all of them either Host Club enthusiasts or aficionados of the Movie Club.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Kyoya and Sakuma hunched over the Movie Club president's calculator, Kyoya with his laptop settled on his lap and typing away furiously. It was pretty obvious that they were calculating the profits from this little venture of theirs. Smug jerks. Rin wanted to smack the both of them.

Further along in the row, Tamaki was chattering animatedly with Haruhi, who looked as though she was caught somewhere between amusement and annoyance at the whole thing. Honey-sempai and Mori-sempai were wrapped up in their only little conversation, Honey-sempai naturally being the one doing the most talking. To the other side of her, Rin already knew that Yamanouchi was busying himself with Renge – precariously flirting, as Rin liked to call it – and just after _them_ was the entire Movie Club – with the exception of Hiroyuki and Ishiro, who were in the above loft that housed the projection room – and, interestingly, Nekozawa, who'd somehow been wrangled into lending his assistance with the production. From what Rin could deduce, he'd likely been the team's mythology and paranormal consultant for the occasion. Who else would know the supernatural better than the president of the Black Magic Club?

"Wow, this place sure is crowded," Hikaru remarked, looking around coolly. "I didn't think we had this many admirers."

'_Neither did I. It kinda makes me feel sick,'_ Rin thought to herself, stomach wrenching upon the realization that she was beginning to feel more and more like she'd been stuffed in a sardine can.

"What was the name of this production again?" asked Kaoru, looking through the pamphlet each of them had received upon entering the theatre.

"I think it was _The Haunting of Ouran_," Rin answered, wracking her brains through the multiple titles that had been thrown around during the film shoots. "Or something like that. I really don't remember."

"Attention, ladies and gentlemen!" Sakuma's voice sailed above the buzzing chatter, effectively silencing the attendants. He smiled over his microphone, and continued his prepared speech.

Rin tuned him out for the most part. They'd rehearsed this bit as well, all the way down to the minutest detail. _Details,_ she found, were a major issue with Enishi Sakuma; he was a total perfectionist, and a likely candidate of obsessive compulsive disorder.

"– and with the cooperation of Ouran's beloved Host Club –"

There was an ear-shattering eruption of cheers, screams, and applause as the Hosts rose and waved on cue. Rin winced as several blinding flashes from cell phones and cameras lit up the dim theatre.

"– and aid from Umehito Nekozawa, the President of the Black Magic Club –"

Nekozawa rose as the Hosts sat, Belzenef bowing at the same time as he did. Rin grinned upon seeing the evident red patches splashed on the boy's normally pale face and applauded for him along with the members of the Black Magic Club, who were sitting farther along in the back. He caught sight of it and gave her his own timid smile, which she returned instantly.

"Would you quite smiling and clapping for him?" Hikaru hissed, catching the exchange.

Rin shot him a venomous look. "He's my friend and he's nervous. Let me do what I want."

The elder Hitachiin twin settled back into his seat with a stormy expression marring his features.

'_Geez, what's his problem?'_ Rin wondered vaguely.

"We, the members of Ouran Academy's Movie Club, would like to thank you for coming today!" Sakuma continued as the black-clad third-year reclaimed his seat. "We hope you will enjoy our presentation. Feel free to ask questions at the end of the feature! And now, to begin! Roll 'em!"

He sat gracefully in his seat next to Kyoya as the theatre darkened even further and the screen in the front blared to life.

Rin settled into her seat and opted to just enjoy the film, even if it was utter garbage. If she was to be truthful with herself, she was actually somewhat excited at the prospect of seeing herself in a movie – she'd never been a part of any massive group projects like this before, and it was rather thrilling to think that she'd be on Ouran's silver screen.

Kaoru frowned when the film's title card appeared in elegant letters.

"_Under the Cover of Darkness?_" he whispered in Rin's ear. "Where'd they get _that_ from?"

"Who knows?" she responded, somewhat baffled by the choice herself. But the question was left permanently unanswered, as the film began immediately.

From the credits and after, Rin was engrossed entirely in the film. She had to admit that Sakuma was a brilliant director. The shots of the Host Club during regular hours worked wonderfully to establish their daily routines of entertaining clients, and further scenes helped to elaborate on their relationships. She was actually surprised to see how relaxed and calm she was with her fellow Hosts, and even more so upon realizing that every time she laughed with the twins, she wasn't faking it at all.

What the rest of the audience saw as a tug-of-war yaoi love triangle, Rin saw as a true friendship blossoming. As the film progressed from lighthearted Host Club antics into the darker segment, in which the Host Club was trapped in the school for an evening during a violent storm (oh, the irony of the tale, she couldn't help but think), Rin began to realize more and more that the twins weren't just her ritualistic administrators of irritation and frustration, they were genuinely concerned about her.

"_Look, uh…"_ the Rin on the screen swallowed, looking somewhat embarrassed. _"Thanks. For helping me."_

"_Hey, don't worry about it,"_ the Kaoru next to her said with a reassuring grin.

"_Yeah."_ The on-screen Hikaru playfully messed up the teen's hair. _"It's not like we were going to let anyone touch you anyway."_

What progressed on-screen was slightly different from what had really transgressed. During the filming process, Sakuma had decided to tone down Rin's somewhat violent reactions, and re-filmed several scenes to insert fluffier, more intimate moment between the twins and their little object of affection. While Rin personally felt insulted at having been reduced to little more than the stereotypical damsel-in-distress, she couldn't deny that it sat better with the audience than her actual reactions would have.

A hand on each side gripped either of her own when the climax of the film came – what really was happening, Rin hadn't the faintest. She was too wrapped up in her thoughts.

"_Talk about your wasted effort."_

"_I can't believe we didn't actually save her from anything."_

Rin looked on either side of her and smiled softly. _'They were really worried about me.'_

She gripped their hands tightly and leaned back comfortably. Before she knew it, the film had ended.

**…**

When the lights came back to life and flooded the theatre with their intensity, Rin had to blink back dancing dots in her vision as she joined the cast and crew on the small stage setup in front of the screen.

They were bombarded questions, so many questions. Requests for poses with the twins were quickly granted, much to the hysterical glee of the Hitachiin-Tamashīzaki fans. Rin was actually really glad to have been stuck with Hikaru and Kaoru. They were having a lot of fun participating in the Movie Club's project. She supposed that maybe things hadn't turned out as badly as she'd feared.

At least that was her thought prior to the questions pelted at Kyoya and Sakuma in regards to film distribution and merchandising. The moment Kyoya stepped up with the microphone with a smug smirk on his face Rin ought to have known that he had something up his sleeve.

Sakuma, who stood just as smugly next to the Shadow King, held up a remote switch and pressed one of the many buttons on it.

"And as an exclusive for the premiere of our film, we will now reveal this special item that will be sold through the Host Club."

Curious as to what he was referring to, Rin looked behind her to take a gander.

She immediately wished she hadn't.

"KYOYA –!" Tamaki's mouth was immediately clamped shut by Yamanouchi, who was doing his best not to burst out laughing. Nekozawa stood just behind them, looking somewhat paler than usual.

"As an exclusive item for this production, the Host Club has special edition copies of this photo taken of the three central characters from the film," Kyoya said, smiling warmly at his audience. "These collector's items will be on sale during club hours beginning today, and will continue to be so until supplies run out."

Rin was torn between embarrassment and wanting to murder the bespectacled young man. She now knew what the small flash of the light where had come from the morning after the night of the storm.

On the screen, for all of the audience to see, was an image of a supposedly slumbering Rin more-or-less snuggling up against a sleeping Kaoru. Hikaru, just as lacking in the consciousness department as the other two, was curled into Rin's side, arms wrapped around her waist.

The most damning part of all was that _all of them looked perfectly peaceful_. She was even _smiling_.

Yamanouchi's booming laughter could be heard even over the fangirl shrieks and squeals that threatened to rupture their eardrums.

"Hey, you think _that's_ cute? It was even more adorable in real life!"

"Yamanouchi!" Rin all but screamed. Her face was quite close to resembling a cherry.

"Well, it looks like we're official," Hikaru purred, slipping one arm around her waist.

"Face it, Rin," Kaoru chuckled, mimicking his brother's movements. He reached a hand up to tilt the furiously blushing girl's face up towards his own.

"You're _ours_," they said in unison, faces in such close proximity that it brought forth a new wave of screeches and cheers from their fans out in the audience. Flashes of light blinked insanely from all over.

Rin swallowed and looked at the younger twin intently as her mind churned out the possibilities. If not for the crowd, she would have certainly decked the both of them before storming out of the theatre in a huff. But she was in front of just about every single "princess" that visited Music Room #3, and now everyone was watching the three of them intently.

Instead, she smirked and grabbed at Kaoru's uniform tie.

"Are you so sure about that?" she inquired yanking him closer, bringing her lips just up to his ear. She wanted to laugh upon hearing him gulp loudly. "What makes you think _I _haven't got _you_?"

When she pulled back, she was pleased to see that Kaoru was now sporting his own vivid blush; Hikaru was stuttering just behind her. They obviously hadn't expected her to throw their own antics back at them.

'_Touché,' _she thought smugly. Hikaru and Kaoru were going to have to learn that didn't hold _all_ the cards in this relationship. The Hitachiin twins might have been able to make her squirm, but Rin Tamashīzaki would _always_ be able to manage a comeback.

***~****おわり****~***

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:**__ And that concludes the Ouran HSHC Halloween 2011 Special, __**Under the Cover of Darkness**__! I had a lot of fun writing this story, I'm really glad that there were so many people who enjoyed reading it. Special thanks go out to my wonderful reviewers, whose kind words really mean a lot to me: __**lanee**__, __**TheGuineaPig3**__, __**Ninja-on-the-run**__, __**codenamehawkeye**__, __**gotta-love-anime**__, __**angel2u**__, __**magictalkingbunny**__, __**Aubrey09**__, __**damien i**__, __**hohoho**__, and __**oh no i won't**__. To all of you, and those who added this story to your favorites/alerts lists – Thank you so much!_

_Happy (belated) Halloween! And to everyone in the US: don't forget to turn your clocks back this weekend!_

_Sayonara!_


End file.
